


The Big Uneasy

by SkinnyProcrastinator



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-03 11:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 52,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4099504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkinnyProcrastinator/pseuds/SkinnyProcrastinator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan loves her carefree life in New Orleans but becomes exasperated when she constantly starts bumping into Regina Mills, a haughty and rude business woman on an enforced vacation in The Big Easy. SwanQueen AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was another blisteringly hot day on Bourbon Street. The broken red tiles of the sidewalk were soaked with rain water from one of the frequent and much-desired storms that were common during the height of summer.

Despite the thirty-minute heavy storm, the air was still almost unbearably hot and the early morning tourists, who were walking up the iconic street, could be heard complaining about the unforgiving heat.

Locals like Emma Swan were simply happy for the brief respite the storm had offered. Even with all the doors and shutters wide open in the small bar it still felt like there was no airflow and Emma plunged her hands into the ice tray where the bottles were stored behind the bar.

Blowing out a deep breath she faced the antiquated old fan that whirred behind the bar, it may not have provided much relief from the heat but Emma would take all she could get. 

It was ten o’clock on a Tuesday and some of the tourists were starting to make their way towards Bourbon Street. Despite the early hour the bar was open and ready to sell alcohol and Emma had even served a few customers already that morning. In most places plastic to-go cups of frozen cocktails were illegal but New Orleans thrived on the fact that anyone could cheaply buy alcohol and walk freely around the city.

Heat made people do strange things. But it wasn’t just the heat, New Orleans made people do strange things. In the five years Emma had lived in New Orleans she had seen things that she would never have believed if she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes.

A city didn’t earn the nickname “The Big Easy” for no reason and millions of visitors piled into the narrow streets every year to see exactly what all the fuss was about. A unique blend of history, jazz, architecture, food and culture was only part of what made the city what it was. It was the people who really brought New Orleans to life, from the impromptu jazz sessions that would suddenly pop up on a street corner to the party animals who would populate Bourbon Street each and every night.

When Emma first arrived in The Big Easy as a twenty-three year old unemployed graduate she had expected to find a respectable job and spend her evenings walking around the French Quarter admiring the 19th century architecture. Or taking a trip down to the Mississippi and soaking up the atmosphere while watching one of the old paddlewheel steamboats sailing by. 

As it happened, when Emma arrived the city was still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. Only after Emma had paid three month’s rent upfront had she discovered that around half a million people had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. On top of the human cost there were huge numbers of businesses that closed and the repair work to buildings, roads and infrastructure was taking longer than anyone would have ever imagined.

Having no savings to fall back on as well as university debts that needed to be paid, Emma set out to take any job that she could. Before long Emma’s search for work in the Business District had to be aborted and instead the blonde had started to look in the party district of the French Quarter. Even with her ambitions substantially lowered all she could find was temporary bar work but she had been in the city long enough to know that she had to grab whatever was available.

Now, five years later, Emma still worked temporary and part-time jobs. Not because she couldn’t find a, supposedly, more respectable office job across Canal Street in the Business District, because she enjoyed it. With a total of nine temporary, part-time jobs Emma was in her element as every single day was different and exciting. New Orleans had taken her in and she had given the city her heart in return. 

CeeCee’s bar was the first job she found and even though Emma loved it, there was no getting away from the fact that the bar was an absolute dive. The whole bar was only five by fifteen metres in size, just enough room for patrons to walk in one of the many open doors and order a drink at the long bar. 

The main selling point of CeeCee’s was the brightly coloured slushie machines that churned neon-coloured alcoholic icy cocktails around. On the front of each see-through machine was a piece of paper with a scribbled description of the contents. Pina Colada, Margarita, Daiquiri, Rum Punch and the famous Hurricane. Now and then a special would crop up, usually in the guise of a fruit or something inexplicable like the Termination or the Violator. Regardless, people bought the drinks, but that was New Orleans for you, it never claimed to be classy. 

The bar was open twenty-four hours a day, mainly because the rickety old doors on the building didn’t close. Five double shuttered doors allowed entry into the bar, half of the shutters were missing and the others were so old they were primarily being held together by the flaking paint on them. The effect was as if there was nothing separating people walking along Bourbon Street with the hypnotic churn of the slushie machines, it was easy to step in and grab a frozen drink to go. And many people did, no matter the time of day or night.

In the evenings CeeCee’s, much like the rest of Bourbon Street, was packed solid with people drinking and partying. Each night Bourbon Street came to life and partied like it was the last night anyone expected to ever see again. And, judging by the amount of excessive living some participated in, it may well have ended up their last night. The street, road and sidewalk, would be packed with people talking and walking from bar to bar, picking up cheap drinks as they went. The balconies above the street would be filled with people slow-dancing to traditional Dixieland Jazz while drinking and occasionally toasting the rabble below them.

During the day Bourbon Street was sparsely populated with curious tourists, fellow business owners and the people who lived in the flats that overlooked the street. But all the night-life businesses that thrived during the darkened hours still opened there doors during the day. Which was why it wasn’t unusual to find a drunk literally sleeping in the gutter outside the bar, or unsuspecting tourists being pulled into daytime shows in strip clubs. Businesses in the French Quarter didn’t close, they made their money through tourists and with the effects of Hurricane Katrina still being felt many years later they didn’t want to lose a potential cent in revenue. 

Despite some of the more seedy elements of New Orleans, Emma adored the vibrant city and the freedom and equality it offered all who visited. Despite the non-stop alcohol and party atmosphere, crime was relatively low and there was definitely a strong sense of community. 

A young tourist couple entered the bar and Emma took her hands out of the ice tray and shook the ice cold water off of them, enjoying the feel of cold drops of water on her bare legs. 

“Hey guys,” Emma smiled, blowing a stray lock of her long blonde hair out of her face. “What can I get you?”

The young man ordered two of the strawberry Daiquiris and Emma picked up two plastic cups and placed them under the taps on the slushie machine.

“Where’s the voodoo museum?” 

“Carry on down Bourbon,” Emma said as she leaned over the high bar and pointed in the correct direction. “About another three minute walk, you’ll come to the lobster place on the corner, turn right there and you can’t miss it.”

Emma placed the two drinks on the bar and put a straw in each before pushing the cups towards the couple.

“Great.” He handed her some bills, “keep the change.”

“Thanks,” Emma beamed. “Y’all come back tonight for happy hour, half price on all Hurricanes!”

The couple picked up the drinks and sauntered out of the bar and headed up the street. As they left Emma wiped down the wet residue left on the bar and checked the temperature gauges on the slushie machines. With a bored sigh Emma sat on the rickety wooden stool behind the bar and watched the street through the open doors.

After a few minutes a black sedan pulled up on the opposite side of the road and the driver’s door flew open. A tall and well-dressed redhead got out of the car and strutted towards the rear of the car where the trunk had been popped open. A few seconds later the front passenger door opened and an attractive brunette got out of the car with an expression close to rage.

The two women started to argue about something but a nearby saxophone playing a soulful Jazz tune prevented Emma from hearing any of the details. The redhead pulled out a small suitcase and placed it on the sidewalk, as she reached into the trunk to get a second case the brunette picked up the first and attempted to put it back in the trunk.

Emma laughed at the ridiculous sight of the two elegant women wrestling with the luxury luggage. She still couldn’t tell what they were discussing but she got the impression that the luggage belonged to the brunette and the redhead was trying to remove it from the vehicle. 

The mystery was too much for Emma so she decided to grab the moth-eaten old broom and sweep the sidewalk in front of the bar so she could eavesdrop on the conversation. Luckily they were shouting loudly so she didn’t need to try too hard to listen to what was being said despite them being on the other side of the street.

“I’ve literally had it up to here, Regina!” 

Emma looked up to notice that the redhead had called the brunette Regina and following a quick appraisal of the brunette Emma had to agree that she looked like a Regina. The brunette was wearing a short-sleeved white blouse and a tight black work skirt with tights and high heels. Emma sniggered at the outfit, clearly Regina had no idea about the exhausting temperatures in New Orleans or how to dress for them. 

“Stop moving my case, Zelena!” Regina shouted as she tried to fight with the redhead to place the suitcase back in the trunk.

“No, you’re staying here!” Zelena replied.

Emma focused on sweeping the sidewalk and wondered with a shake of her head just who named their children Zelena and Regina.

“I am not staying in this sordid hellhole one minute more,” Regina replied.

Emma had to admit the brunette was brave to call New Orleans a sordid hellhole in a screaming match in the middle of Bourbon Street. Stupid but brave. 

“Like I told you, I have booked you into the hotel for two weeks,” Zelena replied. “You need to get yourself together, you can’t go on like this anymore!”

“I’m fine!” Regina shouted back. “And why the hell would I want to stay in this grubby, sleazy cesspit for a two whole weeks? And even if I did, what was wrong with the perfectly good hotel we just came from. Why do I have to stay with the drunks and drug-pushers?”

Emma winced as she looked around the street to see if anyone could hear the choice selection of adjectives that Regina was using to describe their hometown. 

“You are not fine, you know that,” Zelena hissed loudly back. “You’re.. you’re like a husk of the person you were before the..”

“Zelena!” Regina interrupted.

Emma was intrigued as she wondered what Zelena was about to say as well as what Regina was like before if the screaming woman was a supposedly a husk.

“New Orleans is far enough away from home for you to not cause any more problems for mother,” Zelena declared as she threw one of Regina’s suitcases away from the car and watched it flop into the road. “If there is one place on this earth that even you will have to eventually crack and enjoy yourself, this is it. Think of it as a vacation. A nice break. You can soak up the atmosphere, take some time to reflect on.. things. But if you come home before the fifth of next month then I’ll tell mother about Addison!”

Regina had stalked towards the case and picked it up and spun around to regard Zelena with a glare that could melt steel, “you dare,” she whispered.

“I dare,” Zelena answered as she picked the other case up out of the trunk and placed it on the ground and slammed the trunk shut. “Two weeks, Regina. Just.. stay out of the way and sort yourself out. I don’t care how.”

“So, dragging me down here to go to that conference was all a ruse so you could dump me here?” Regina marched back to Zelena and stood heel to heel with the slightly taller redhead.

“Yes,” Zelena sneered, “and it worked. As I say, just think of it as a vacation!”

“I don’t need a vacation!” Regina cried. “I need to get back to work!”

“No, you really don’t,” Zelena replied with a hint of sadness. “There’s an envelope in the front pocket of your case, it’s got all the information about the hotel.”

“I can’t believe you’re blackmailing me,” Regina growled.

“Well, I am. And I know you don’t believe it but I’m doing this for your own good,” Zelena said as she stepped back and opened the driver’s door and got in the car. She slammed the door closed again and opened the window. “Oh, and I’ve cut off your cell, just so you don’t try to work. Ta-ta, Darling.”

Regina pitched towards the car in what looked like an attempt to strangle Zelena but the redhead sped away. Regina watched as the black sedan rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

Emma decided the show was over and that she didn’t want to be the next person in Regina’s line of fire so gave up with her pointless sweeping and went back into the bar. She put the broom away and picked up a cloth and started to wipe the bar down, wishing that someone would give her a two-week-long vacation in New Orleans.

A few moments later and Emma looked up with a sigh as she watched Regina struggle with her suitcases as she attempted to drag them into the bar. A couple of mumbled curse words and Regina managed to place the bags beside the bar and sat on a bar stool.

“Hey, what can I get you?” Emma asked and flashed Regina her friendliest smile.

Regina regarded the slushie machines with sigh and a roll of her eyes, “water.”

Emma picked up a bottle of water that was floating in a bucket of half-melted ice and placed it on the bar in front of Regina. Regina looked at the bottle like it offended her and then regarded Emma, “do you not have cups?”

Emma plucked a plastic to-go cup from the large stack by the slushie machine and placed it beside the dripping water bottle.

Regina looked at the two objects as if they were completely foreign to her and eventually sighed as she reached over and pulled a couple of low-quality paper napkins out of the metal box on the bar. She placed one on the bar and wiped the bottle dry with the other before placing the bottle on the dry napkin. 

Emma watched with amused interest as Regina plucked another napkin and started to dry her hands before finally opening the bottle and pouring some of the water into the cup.

“So,” Emma picked another water bottle out of a box and put it in the bucket of icy water. “Are you in New Orleans long?”

Regina sipped her water and gave a sarcastic laugh.

“Please, like you didn’t hear it all.”

Emma considered pretending she hadn’t been listening in for a moment but eventually shrugged her shoulders, “fair enough.”

Silence loomed over the women and Emma rolled her eyes at the pretentious brunette as she realised she wouldn’t be getting anything else out of her. She pulled up her rickety barstool so she could sit closer to the slow-moving fan and picked up a magazine and started to flip through it.

After a couple of minutes head-shaking and slow water drinking, Regina bent down and opened the front pocket of one of her suitcases and pulled out a envelope and slammed it angrily on bar. Emma attempted to ignore the brunette as she noisily sighed and ripped open the envelope and pulled out some pieces of paper.

“You!” Regina said without looking up and flicking her disinterested hand in Emma’s direction. “Where is this hotel?”

Emma looked at Regina in disbelief at her rudeness and slowly pushed herself from her stool and ambled back to the bar and snatched the piece of paper out of Regina’s hand.

“The Royale. Nice,” Emma said with a sigh. “You want to walk down Bourbon, turn left by Dixie’s bar and then the next right.”

Regina turned around and regarded Bourbon Street with a sneer.

“Unbelievable,” Regina muttered as she snatched the paper out of Emma’s hand.

“I’m beginning to understand why she dumped you here instead of driving you to the hotel,” Emma mumbled under her breath as she returned to her stool and her magazine.

Emma didn’t bother to look up to see if Regina had heard her words.

“How much for the water?” 

“On the house, consider it some Louisiana hospitality,” Emma said without looking up from her magazine. “Courtesy of the sordid hellhole.”

“So, you heard that?” Regina muttered.

“Everyone heard that.”

A few more silent moments passed before Emma heard Regina pick up her papers and shove them back into the front pocket of her suitcase. At the sound of suitcase wheels trundling into the distance Emma let out a sigh and looked up to see an empty bottle and cup and a handful of screwed up napkins laying on the bar.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma felt refreshed after an afternoon nap. She had taken to having an afternoon nap in the height of summer to avoid the exhausting midday heat of the Louisiana sun. When she first arrived in the city she had mistakenly thought she would be able to work through the day and even the evening with no ill effects. The first really hot day had put pay to that idea and she found herself swaying as she walked down Basin Street to her part-time job at the tourist office. 

A lecture from her co-worker, Miss Mae, had soon informed Emma of the importance of the two R’s, rest and rehydration. Since that day she had ensured her schedule kept her out of the furious sunrays from midday until two o’clock and she always carried a full bottle of water with her.

It wasn’t long after that when Emma started to notice her rookie error reflected in the tourists she met while working her various part-time jobs. On the third occasion that an exhausted tourist passed out in her vicinity she decided it was time to take a first aid course and took the idea to Mister Webb, her manager at the tourist office. He readily agreed and Emma quickly enrolled herself into a first aid course at the local hospital where she was praised for her quick-thinking and calm attitude.

Of course Emma had been immensely proud on the day that she walked into the tourist office with her new first aid certificate but as the weeks went by she started to realise her mistake. Being one of the few qualified first aiders she found that she was now signed up as one of the many marshals along the routes of the parades that were a frequent feature of New Orleans. 

Parades zig-zagged their way across the city on a daily basis, it wasn’t unheard of for there to be two parades on any one given day and half of the time the locals had no idea what the parade was actually in aid of. Not that it mattered as most would happily cheer and wave regardless. 

Emma loved the parades, the first time she saw one she had only been in New Orleans for two days and was eating lunch at a café on Bourbon Street. Engrossed in a local newspaper and looking for jobs, she hadn’t heard the parade until it was practically right in front of her. 

She had decided to have lunch at an indoor café with air conditioning and had sat at a bar table right in front of the window overlooking the busy street. Towards the end of her sandwich, and while engrossed in her newspaper, she distractedly noticed that her drink was vibrating. She stared at the rings forming on the top of the clear liquid as her brain attempted to figure out what was happening. It was then that she realised it wasn’t just the drink, it was the whole table and she could hear the sound of a brass band and heavy feet marching in time to the tune. 

Looking through the window she could see a parade coming down the street and for the next ten minutes she was absolutely mesmerised by the sight. Ceremonial uniforms with shining buttons and extravagant hats adorned with feathers was the first thing she saw. Then she became aware of the instruments, drums of all shapes and sizes and shining brass instruments that gleamed brightly in the sun. It was only halfway through that she realised the majority of the parade were teenagers with young dancers twirling batons and weaving in-between the musicians with grace and ease. 

Crowds were stopping on the sidewalk as they watched the spectacle making its way down the narrow street, people cheered and applauded and everyone became caught up in the carnival atmosphere. 

As Emma’s waitress appeared and placed a drink refill on the table, Emma asked her what the parade was for.

The young waitress had smiled as she looked out of the window at the uniforms and the emblems on the drums and shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve no idea, there’s so many parades!”

The waitress left and Emma turned to look at the rest of the parade go by. As the end of the parade passed by the window Emma noticed that people had randomly joined in. Dancing, skipping and clapping in time to the music. Random strangers who seemed to be nothing to do with the parade were happily getting involved and pulling other spectators along with them. With a laugh and a shrug more people joined the parade and Emma smiled as she realised that by the end of Bourbon Street the parade would probably have doubled in length. That was one of the many times when Emma felt herself falling in love with the city. 

However nothing ruined a parade more than being the token first aid marshal from the tourism office. The parades were all well-organised enough to have their own first aiders and marshals within the support team for the parade. Which meant the marshals on the route were tasked with watching the spectators. Emma had quickly realised that nothing was less fun than watching other people watching a parade but not being able to watch it for yourself. 

On the positive side, being a parade marshal meant patrolling the parade route with the police and, even though Emma hated to admit it, she loved the uniform. If she was going to have to attend a parade and miss out on all the fun the least she could do was take in a little eye candy along the route.

“Hey Em!” 

Emma looked up to see Officer Aude Durand, a beautiful black woman who she had often seen patrolling the parades and who she had struck up a conversation with once or twice. Her slight French accent always made Emma a little weak at the knees.

“Afternoon, Officer Durand,” Emma smiled back.

“You pulled the short straw, huh?” 

“Yep,” Emma laughed as she tugged on her lime green high-visibility vest. “The perks of that first aid certificate are literally endless.”

“At least the vest matches your eyes,” Durand winked as she threaded her thumbs through her belt loops and strutted away from Emma.

Emma regarded the woman with a sigh. Being gay in New Orleans was hard. While being one of the most gay-friendly places that Emma had ever been to, which was undoubtedly a good thing, Emma’s misfiring gaydar was struggling more than usual.

With the odds of finding a same sex partner dramatically higher in New Orleans than in many other places Emma thought it would be simple to find a girlfriend but she hadn’t factored in the famous Deep South hospitality. Everyone she met was fantastically friendly, and while that was a great thing, it did mean that Emma was now becoming an expert at hitting on straight women. 

In a city supposedly bursting with gay women, Emma could only find the straight ones. Even in gay bars Emma seemed to spend her time befriending straight women that their gay male friends had brought along to cheer up due to some straight relationship drama. 

Not that Emma had never had a girlfriend in the time she’d been in The Big Easy, she’d had several. But she was twenty-seven now and wanted something that would last a little longer than a couple of weeks, she wasn’t ready to settle down and get matching check shirts but she craved something more permanent. 

“Oh, it’s you again. What is that tremendous racket?”

Emma didn’t even have to turn around to know that the acerbic voice belonged to the woman from the bar earlier.

“Why are you wearing that hideous thing?” 

Emma continued looking across the road, not wanting to turn around and look at the irritating brunette.

“I’m a first aider. There’s a parade.”

“A parade? What for?”

“Celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” 

Emma turned around and sighed, “why, your arrival, of course.”

Regina regarded the blonde with a passive expression before replying, “sarcasm doesn’t become you.”

“Are you honestly questioning my personality traits?” Emma shook her head and turned back towards the street and wished that the parade would hurry up and arrive. The distant sound of the band could be heard and she desperately wished for it to be closer to drown out anything further the brunette might say,

“I thought you worked at that dingy bar?”

“I do, I have more than one job,” Emma explained with a sigh.

“Well, I suppose this is a step up,” Regina drawled. “Where is Basin Street?”

Emma turned around and regarded Regina with a suspicious frown, “why?”

Regina gave Emma a pointed look, “because I’m lead to believe that there is a tourist centre there and I’m a tourist?”

“A few hours ago you were livid for being dumped in here, now you’re looking for restaurant recommendations?”

Regina sniffed delicately, “I spoke with my sister and we’ve agreed that I’ll stay here for two weeks, I may as well fill my time with something.”

The parade was starting to get closer and a few people were beginning to gather and Emma looked from Regina to the approaching parade.

“So, where is Basin Street?” Regina repeated with a sigh.

“You know I’m not your personal map, yeah?” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’d use my cell phone but as I’m sure you overheard, it’s not currently working,” Regina folded her arms across a long-sleeved blue silk shirt she had changed into.

Emma regarded Regina’s outfit with a shake of the head, “you changed into a long-sleeved shirt? Really?”

“I asked for directions, not fashion advice.”

“It may have escaped your notice but it’s kinda hot,” Emma said distractedly as she looked from Regina to the parade that was nearly upon them.

“It was cold in my hotel room,” Regina shrugged.

“And tights? Who wears tights and heels in this heat?” 

“Basin Street,” Regina articulated slowly.

“Fine,” Emma said with an aggravated sigh. “Walk up this road until you get to the Dixieland Jazz Bar, turn left and then keep walking until you get to the church. After the church, turn right and it’s on the other side of the road. But, seriously, you might wanna get changed or at least take some water with you.”

The end of Emma’s sentence was wasted as Regina turned and started to walk into the distance with a scowl on her face.

“And invest in a map!” Emma shouted at the retreating figure with a shake of her head as she turned back to the parade.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma waited patiently for the traffic lights to change so she could walk across the busy road towards the famous Basin Street Station. The large building had been built at the turn of the twentieth century and the frontage of red brick and large glass windows looked just as impressive today as it must have done back then.

The station building had become a hub with the open-top double-decker tourist bus stopping on one side of the building while the famous St. Louis Cemetery number one was located on the other side. Inside the station was a large and grand marble-floored lobby where the tourism officers sat behind large wooden desks and handed out maps and information.

Beyond the lobby was the old station’s waiting room which had been restored and contained glass display cases with historical documents and items from days gone by when the building had been a working railway station. Emma often spent time in the waiting room looking at the old timetables, maps and trinkets that were on display. 

A recent addition to the building was a shop that had been set up within the old ticket office selling New Orleans merchandise, most of which was overpriced and seemingly pointless but the tourists loved it.

The traffic light changed and Emma hurried across the road and into the tourist office where she was immediately greeted by Miss Mae, a rotund black lady in her seventies who knew everything there was to know about everything.

“Hey sweetie.”

Emma exhaustedly smiled back at Miss Mae, “hey, gosh it’s hot out there today!”

Miss Mae laughed, “oh, you ain’t seen nothing, dove.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Emma chuckled, “you’ve seen it hot enough to melt parked cars, I know.”

Emma placed her lime green high visibility vest back in the first aid bag behind one of the large desks and walked over to the water cooler and started to fill a paper cone with ice cold water. 

“By the way,” Emma said as she took a quick sip of water. “Did a snooty looking brunette come in here?”

Miss Mae smiled knowingly, “oh, yeah, we saw her in here.”

Emma downed the rest of the water as Miss Mae shook her head and chuckled, “in her fine shoes.”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Emma nodded.

“She didn’t like the bus,” Miss Mae pointed out of the window at the open-top bus tour.

Emma frowned, “why not?”

Miss Mae shrugged as she flopped herself down into a moth-eaten old chair, “I didn’t ask. She didn’t seem to like much.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Emma agreed with a nod. 

“She took a map and a few leaflets. Said she’d go and look at the cemetery.”

“She paid for a tour?” Emma questioned with surprise.

“Yep,” Miss Mae released a long and tired sigh and closed her eyes for a moment before looking up at Emma. “How do you know her, dove?”

“She came into CeeCee’s,” Emma said. “Then I saw her at the parade, she wanted directions to here.”

“She on vacation?” Miss Mae frowned.

“Kinda, yeah.”

“She don’t look like she on vacation.”

“No, I think it was kind of a last minute thing,” Emma admitted.

“She’s troubled,” Miss Mae said with a small shake of her head.

“She’s trouble,” Emma enunciated.

“No, troubled,” Miss Mae pressed. “Those big old brown eyes of hers, she seemed haunted somehow.”

Emma finished her water and threw the empty cone into the recycling bin and rolled her eyes. Not a day went by when Miss Mae didn’t use her supposed voodoo sixth sense to identify some sort of pain or suffering in a stranger passing through the tourist office.

“Nothing a vacation can’t fix, I’m sure,” Emma said as she started tidying some of the leaflets that lined the desks. 

Miss Mae regarded the young blonde with a smile, “are you going to be at Jack’s tonight?”

“No, streetcar tonight,” Emma replied.

Miss Mae shook her head, “I don’t know why you still do that job, dove.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders, “it’s fun, you meet loads of interesting people on the streetcar.”

Miss Mae sneered with obvious disagreement, “but working the nightshift as a conductor on those streetcars.. no, no no.”

Emma rolled her eyes but smiled at the maternal shaking of the head that Miss Mae was offering her from her beaten up old chair.

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Emma placated. “Most people are just fine. Besides, it’s no worse than working on Bourbon Street in the evening and you don’t mind me doing that!”

“At least then I can keep an eye on ya!” Miss Mae laughed loudly.

Miss Mae might have been an overweight older lady but that did not stop her from getting right in the thick of things when it came to a good party. Emma met Miss Mae for the first time when the older woman was entertaining a large crowd at a karaoke bar on Bourbon Street.

Emma had still been getting used to the novelty of being able to carry around an alcoholic drink and was walking up Bourbon Street sipping on a frozen Daiquiri from a plastic cup when she heard the most amazing sound. Passing a bar with all the doors and windows thrown wide open to allow for some air circulation she heard utter silence. While all of the other bars pumped out loud music while the sound of people talking and laughing turned into an incomprehensible rumbling over the top, this bar was silent.

However it wasn’t just a silence, it was an anxious calm. Like during an argument and one of the participants says something unexpected and everyone gathered pauses as they wait to see what might happen next. Emma stopped and looked at the bar from the road, it was packed solid and then suddenly a deep and beautiful female voice floated over a loudspeaker. The voice was singing a song that Emma didn’t know the words to but that didn’t stop Emma from feeling immediately captivated and she found her feet walking towards the bar.

The room was small and crowded but Emma managed to navigate her way to the stage and was surprised to see that the owner of the voice was woman in her twilight years. She sat on a high-backed fabric chair which was well worn and looked out of place in the bar, almost like she had brought it with her from her own living room.

At the end of her first song the bar exploded into whoops and cheers, applause and whistles and the woman gave the slightest nod of gratitude before moving straight into the next song. She sang five songs in a row before leaving the stage and heading into a dressing room in the back. Emma asked a member of the bar staff who she was and before long she was being introduced to Miss Mae in person. 

Miss Mae took an immediate liking to Emma and explained to the young blonde that if she wanted to listen to real jazz and hang out in the best bars then she needed to head towards Frenchmen Street. Miss Mae scrawled some directions onto a napkin along with the names of bars with days and times scribbled beside them. 

Over the next month Emma saw Miss Mae perform many times in many different venues and they struck up a close friendship. Before long Miss Mae was introducing Emma to Mister Webb, her boss at the tourist office, and telling the man that he had to hire Emma immediately. 

"Why don't you go on home?" Miss Mae said with a look around the empty lobby. “I think I can manage all these folks.”

“Are you sure?” Emma said with a half-smile already fully formed on her face.

“Go on, before I change my mind,” Miss Mae chuckled.

“You’re the best,” Emma said as she gave the woman a quick embrace before grabbing her rucksack that was behind the desk.

“I know,” Miss Mae nodded. “Come and see me one night, maybe at the Cat?”

“Sure, I’ll be there.”

Emma looped both arms into her rucksack straps and tightened them as she walked through the old waiting room. She took one last deep breath of cool air-conditioned air before heading out into the close heat outside.

As she walked up the sidewalk beside the cemetery she let out a sigh and groaned under her breath, straight up in front of her was Regina pensively chewing her lip as she leaned against the white, crumbling wall that surrounded the cemetery.

Emma quickly decided that she’d come too far up the sidewalk to turn around and the road was too busy to cross so she was going to have to head straight for the prickly woman. With an internal curse that she was too nice for her own good she put a smile on her face and approached the brunette.

“Hello again.”

Regina looked up with a disorientated frown before seemingly remembering Emma.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Yes, me again.”

“Are you following me?”

“What?” Emma blinked. “No, you’re the one who keeps bumping into me!”

Regina didn’t seem to be listening as she heaved herself away from the wall, Emma noted that her silk blouse clung to her skin and her face had a sheen of sweat.

“Regretting your outfit yet?” Emma smirked.

“Can you imagine being buried in one of these wall vaults?” Regina asked distractedly as she placed her hand on the thick wall.

“Alive? No.”

“At all,” Regina clarified. “Being slid into a hole in the wall like.. like envelope in a desk drawer.”

“Well, it’s not quite like that,” Emma argued.

“And then.. after a year and a day..” Regina continued, “they scrape out whatever might be left of you and put someone else in instead.”

Emma looked closely at the woman in front of her to try to ascertain if these were serious words of the ramblings of some kind of heatstroke.

“It’s the way it’s done here,” Emma said softly. “It’s tradition, religion.”

“My father died six months ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Emma replied. Despite what a pain in the backside the woman had been over the past few hours Emma found herself sincere in her condolences.

“He was buried.” Regina said. “In the ground. And I visit him as often as I can but it doesn’t feel enough. What about these people? What if they wish to visit their loved one but someone else is in there?”

Emma shrugged off her rucksack and knelt down as she unzipped the top and grabbed a bottle of water and stood up again. She grabbed Regina’s hand and wrapped it around the bottle.

“I think you need to drink something, it’s very hot out here.”

Regina absentmindedly took the bottle and looked at Emma, “do you believe in an afterlife?” 

Emma looked around and wondered if it would have been better if she had crossed the road.

“Look, its Regina isn’t it?”

Regina nodded and Emma continued, “Regina, I really think you need to get back to your hotel and have a lay down. The heat can kinda creep up on you and..”

“I’m fine,” Regina said softly.

Emma stared at Regina meaningfully and the brunette regarded the bottle of water in her hand with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s sealed,” Emma explained.

Regina nodded and twisted the plastic cap off and took a few sips of water. 

“Look, I’m heading back to town,” Emma explained, “maybe I can walk you back to your hotel? The cemetery closes soon anyway.”

Regina casually shrugged her shoulders and turned to face Emma in apparent agreement and Emma smiled as she held her arm out to gesture for Regina to continue walking up the sidewalk.

“So,” Regina sighed as ran the back of her hand across her clammy forehead, “you live here.”

“Yep,” Emma nodded. “Five years now.”

“Five years,” Regina said slowly before pausing. “Why?”

Emma laughed, “wow, you’re really rude, aren’t you?”

“Just honest.”

“It’s a fine line,” Emma commented as she pressed a button at the road crossing. “I moved here because I wanted something different. I’d just graduated in Boston.”

“Boston?” Regina frowned. “Well, you certainly succeeded in finding something different. What made you stay?”

The traffic stopped for the red light and the two women crossed the road.

“Probably the same reasons that makes you hate it,” Emma admitted. “It’s fun, disorganised, full of life, unexplainable.”

Regina let out a rich, throaty laugh, “so, you have me pegged already?”

Emma raised her eyebrow, “oh, I think you’ve been quite clear on your preferences. New Orleans is not one of them.”

They walked down a small road with abandoned, boarded up buildings on either side of the street. Regina continued to sip from the bottle of water that Emma had given her and Emma attempted to work out if Regina was suffering from the heat or not.

“I suppose,” Regina said thoughtfully. “I suppose I just don’t get it.”

“Get what?”

“It,” Regina repeated as she waved her hand around to gesture to her surroundings, “it, New Orleans, the.. I don’t know, the culture I suppose. It’s foreign to me. I feel outside my comfort zone.”

Emma nodded, “I think that’s what I like about it, I’m constantly surprised by things. I never feel like I’ve seen everything. It’s an adventure.”

“I’m too old for adventure.”

Emma laughed, “oh come on, you’re not that old.”

“Too old for adventure,” Regina repeated before sipping some more water.

Emma regarded the brunette with a critical eye, “I’m good at this, I think you’re.. thirty.. five?”

Regina stopped dead and stared at the blonde in surprise, “how on earth did you know that?”

Emma stopped and turned back to look at Regina, “I told you, I’m good at that.”

Regina shook her head and started walking again, “well, anyway, too old for adventure.”

“You’re never too old for adventure,” Emma smiled. “I think if you gave New Orleans a chance you might even find you like it here.”

Regina chuckled, “oh, I don’t think so.”

“Look, I’m not suggesting a cocktail run on Bourbon Street to get wasted. New Orleans has something for everyone, I can guarantee there will be something here that you will enjoy.”

“Why do you care?”

Emma opened her mouth to reply but the truth was she didn’t know why she cared. The woman had been an annoyance since she arrived but for some reason Emma felt compelled to make sure she left New Orleans having enjoyed her vacation. It was important to Emma to reverse Regina’s view on her adopted hometown.

“Because I love New Orleans and I honestly believe that it’s rich enough and diverse enough that there will be something you’ll enjoy. I work for the tourist office, it’s like my mission.”

“Hold on,” Regina blinked. “You work for the bar, you work as a first aider and you work for the tourist office?”

“Yep,” Emma nodded without bothering to mention that she had seven other jobs.

“Any other jobs I should know about? Will you be serving me breakfast in the morning?” Regina chuckled.

“No, but I do run a water aerobics class in your hotel on Thursday,” Emma confessed.

“Water aerobics instructor,” Regina said disbelievingly. “So, a bar tender, a first aider, tourism officer and a water aerobics instructor?”

Emma bit her lip and looked down at the cracked sidewalk.

“Oh my God, there’s more,” Regina laughed.

“Technically the first aid job is part of the tourist office,” Emma explained.

“Uh-huh,” Regina nodded with a smug smile.

“I work on the streetcars,” Emma admitted. “As a conductor.”

“The trams?” Regina frowned.

“Streetcars,” Emma corrected. “Yeah, I’m working tonight. You should come.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Regina chuckled.

“Because the streetcars are a part of New Orleans history! The Saint Charles streetcar line is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, running since 1835. In 2014 it was listed by the National Park Service as a historic landmark.”

Regina lightly bit her lip to stop from laughing at Emma’s impassioned and no doubt historically accurate description of the line. 

“And,” Emma continued, “we’ve bumped into each other three times today already so it’s obviously fate that I’m supposed to show you how wrong you are about New Orleans.”

“Oh, I see,” Regina grinned as they arrived at the large revolving doors to her hotel. “Well, in that case I suppose I’d be foolish not to accept.”

“Great,” Emma smiled and pointed up towards Canal Street. “Meet you by the stop up there at nine minutes past eight.”

“Very precise,” Regina chuckled. “Thank you, for the water. Again. I do think I was beginning to feel the sun a little.”

Emma smiled, “well, make sure you carry water around with you. I can’t always be saving you from dehydration.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Regina gave Emma a small salute and turned towards the door to enter her hotel.

Regina paused and turned back to Emma with a frown, “I’m sorry, I don’t even know your name?”

“Emma.”

“Emma,” Regina repeated with a smile that set Emma’s heart racing. “Well, Emma, I’ll see you tonight at nine minutes past eight.”

Emma nodded with a smile, finding any words that might be appropriate at that point in time completely vanished from her vocabulary and she watched as the brunette nodded to the doorman and disappeared into the hotel lobby.


	4. Chapter 4

Emma nervously paced up and down the streetcar stop in her work outfit of black trousers, a short sleeved white shirt and a black tie. She was waiting for the streetcar to arrive so they could do a quick turnaround and begin the journey back down Saint Charles Avenue. 

She knew exactly why she was nervous as she had spent the last couple of hours going over every single element of the interactions she’d had with Regina that day. The brunette had somehow switched from rude and annoying to enigmatic and fascinating over the course of a couple of hours. 

As Emma had eaten her evening meal and stared blankly at the television in her small apartment she had picked apart every segment of the conversation they had shared during the walk from the cemetery to the hotel. Later when Emma had showered and changed into her work uniform she had spent a little extra time curling her long blonde hair and applied a little more makeup than she usually did.

While Emma still didn’t know exactly what to make of the brunette she did know that Regina was beautiful, intelligent and fascinating. But, due to her famously poor gaydar, Emma didn’t know if Regina would be interested in her. During her detailed analysis of the conversation, Emma had managed to confuse herself even further. At first she was convinced that Regina had been mildly flirting with her but as doubts began to reassert themselves Emma worried that she had read too much into things. So Emma had decided that the two-hour long round streetcar journey would give her the perfect opportunity to discover more about the woman.

The vintage army green streetcar approached and Emma stopped her pacing and waited for the old vehicle to arrive at the station stop. The streetcars that ran the Saint Charles Avenue line were the original vehicles, each of them considered a heritage piece in their own right having been built in the 1920s. 

Each streetcar was beautifully maintained and original, the simple driver’s seat at the front of the vehicle was a high wooden swivel chair with space to stand in front and the controls were heavy, metal levers. The floor, walls and window frames were all constructed from wood and the wooden benches were all restored originals. The only modern items were the glass windows which were reinforced and could be opened to allow airflow on hot days.

Once the doors swung open Emma climbed on board and quickly spoke with her co-worker who was relieved to be going home after a long day of driving. Emma’s shift was thankfully a lot shorter and took in two round-trips of the line which took just over four hours. The line was open practically twenty-four hours a day in the summer but Emma only ever worked up until midnight as she knew she’d be exhausted the next day if she worked any later.

Emma placed her rucksack in the corner and began to change the overhead display to show the new destination of the streetcar.

“You’re driving?!”

Emma looked down and through the open door to Regina who was looking up at her with an astonished face.

“Yep,” Emma smiled as she noted Regina had changed into a black tank top and khaki-coloured cargo trousers.

“I thought you said conductor?” Regina asked as she regarded the antiquated vehicle with a frown.

“Same thing,” Emma shrugged as she leant against the driver’s seat. “So, what do you say? Trust me?”

Regina paused for a moment before climbing up the steep steps and into the vehicle. Emma watched as she looked at the empty carriage with a captivated expression.

“Is this an original vehicle?”

“Yep,” Emma said as she swivelled her chair around, “there are about thirty of them on the line.”

Regina walked down the carriage examining all of the features with a smile on her face, “extraordinary.”

“Well, look at that, we found something about New Orleans that you like.”

Regina rolled her eyes, “if you’re going to be like that I could leave again.”

Emma reached onto the control panel in front of her and pulled a lever which caused the doors to heavily slam shut.

Regina stood in the centre of the carriage regarding Emma with a smirk as she put her hands on her hips and drawled, “really?”

Emma swallowed thickly and released the door again, confident Regina was all kinds of scary and hot that Emma found herself flustered as she turned back to the control panel and mindlessly fiddled with some of the controls.

“So,” Regina said as she walked back towards the driver’s seat and looked at the panel with interest. “Where are we going?”

“Saint Charles Avenue,” Emma replied, “all the way to South Carrollton Avenue and then up to South Claiborne and then turn around and back again.”

Regina shrugged disinterestedly as if the street names meant little to her.

“I should warn you the whole trip takes around two hours,” Emma admitted while secretly hoping that that wouldn’t put Regina off.

Regina looked around the carriage until her eyes settled on a wooden bench at the front that ran against the wall and was close to the driver’s seat and opposite the door.

“I’ll sit here?” 

Emma looked up as Regina sat herself down on the bench and placed her arm along the back of the bench as she looked out of the window.

“S-sure,” Emma said and mentally kicked herself as she wondered what on earth had gotten into her.

Other passengers approached the streetcar and Emma greeted them warmly and they made their way down the carriage. Emma looked at the old fashioned clock on the wall to the side of the driver’s controls and reached up and pulled a wire that in turn rang a bell to indicate the vehicle was going to start moving.

The streetcar rattled its way down Canal Street, the open windows of the vehicle providing a nice through-breeze. Emma could feel Regina’s eyes upon her and focused intensely on driving, they turned onto Saint Charles Avenue and passed through the edge of the business district. 

They frequently stopped and passengers got on and off and Emma used the opportunity to glance back at Regina and could see that brunette was unimpressed with the start of the journey. Emma smiled to herself as she remembered the first time that she had taken the streetcar to see what all the fuss was about. She had also found it boring until further down the famous Saint Charles Avenue where she was suddenly awestruck by the buildings and architecture.

They passed around a roundabout and under the expressway and Emma adjusted one of her many rear view mirrors so she could see Regina’s bored expression without turning around. Still in the business district there were no real sights to speak of but the streetcar was now off of the road and onto a private central reservation which made driving a lot easier.

The traffic thinned out and the business district faded away and the garden district took its place as large trees began to frame the street and slowly but surely the landscape started to change. The streetcar rattled along, occasionally stopping to let passengers on and off, and Emma risked a glance at Regina.

The brunette was staring out of the open window, enthralled by the sight of the boulevard. Exquisite mansions with porches and balconies lined either side of the street, trees and gardens were all perfectly landscaped. Churches, university buildings, stylish restaurants and more went by and every time Emma turned to look at Regina she was relieved to see the brunette smiling as she took everything in. 

At one stop an elderly lady with a cane was waiting and Emma stopped the streetcar and eagerly hopped down from the vehicle and held out her arm to assist the woman up the steep stairs. Emma walked the woman to a seat and took her fare money and as she walked back towards the driver’s seat she bent down towards Regina and pointed up and out of the vehicle.

“If you look in the trees you can still see the Mardi Gras beads,” Emma told her with a grin.

Regina looked up at spotted a few of the brightly coloured beads and smiled. Emma took her seat again and rang the bell as they moved further off down Saint Charles Avenue. It was a very long road and by the end of it there were only a couple of passengers still on the streetcar.

Regina stood up and stood by Emma at the driver’s podium, “may I stand with you?”

“Sure,” Emma smiled, “just hold on.”

Regina nodded and held onto a grab-bar by the door and watched with interest as Emma drove the streetcar across Saint Charles Avenue and onto South Carrollton Avenue. Regina looked out of the front windows with interest as they passed by more beautiful houses, churches, schools and parks.

“Thank you,” Regina said softly.

“What for?” Emma asked with a frown as she focused on the road in front of her.

“For showing me this,” Regina replied. 

“Thank you for coming, it’s nice to share the journey with someone,” Emma said.

Regina chuckled, “don’t you always share the journey with someone? Nearly fifty other someone’s?”

“You know what I mean,” Emma smiled.

“So, you drive up here and then what? Do you turn around?”

“Well, we do but the streetcar doesn’t,” Emma said as she pointed her thumb towards the other end of the vehicle.

Regina looked over her shoulder and could see an identical driver’s console at the other end of the carriage. 

“Ah, I see, very clever.”

“There’s a ten minute stop when we get there,” Emma told her. “There’s a shop if you want to get a drink or something?”

“Sounds good,” Regina nodded her head. “I owe you a drink or two by now.”

When they finally stopped at the end terminus Regina headed over to the shop and Emma said goodnight to the departing passengers before closing down her driver’s panel and walking up the carriage to the other one. 

The sun had set and it was starting to get dark and the route on the way back would alternate between darkness and beautifully lit buildings, Emma hoped that Regina would enjoy that in the same way that she had seemed to enjoy the way there. 

When Regina returned she had a paper bag with her and Emma raised her eyebrow.

“I bought snacks,” Regina announced. “But then I realised I didn’t know what you liked so I bought a selection.”

Emma smiled as Regina stood beside her and opened the bag to reveal chips, chocolate and marshmallow treats.

“You did good,” Emma said in a serious tone. “I think I’ll keep you.”

“Best news I’ve had all day,” Regina said. “Literally.”

Emma unwrapped a chocolate bar and took a bite, “so, I know I’m still technically a stranger.. but why did that woman dump you here?”

“That was my sister.”

“Your sister?” Emma frowned. “Sorry but you look nothing alike.”

“Step-sister,” Regina clarified.

“Ah,” Emma nodded. “So, why did your sister dump you here?”

Regina let out a sigh and leaned against the wall of the carriage as she played with the cap on her bottle of apple juice.

“Zelena and I are very different. She’s.. she’s fun and I’m not. I take things more seriously but everything is a joke to her and.. well, let’s just say that she thinks that everything can be solved with alcohol and a party mentality.”

“She thinks that.. whatever’s bothering you.. will be solved by partying it up in NOLA?”

“Apparently,” Regina admitted. “That and there’s an important deal being signed right now and she wants me out of the way.”

Some passengers approached the streetcar and Regina stopped talking and took her seat on the front bench as Emma welcomed the passengers on board and took their fares from them. 

Before long they were underway again and as soon as they started moving Regina stood up and took her place beside Emma. Regina asked questions about the buildings that they were passing and occasionally the streetcar jolted a little and Regina fell towards Emma with a giggle. 

Emma was amazed and mesmerised by the change in the woman and wondered if Zelena was maybe right and that Regina was just desperately in need of a vacation. They made small talk the way two people who hardly know each other do, usually taking their cues from their surroundings as they passed them. 

At the end of the hour-long journey back it seemed like they had talked about everything and nothing all at once. It was quarter past ten in the evening when the streetcar came to a stop at Canal Street and Regina and Emma waved goodbye and goodnight to the departing passengers.

“That was wonderful,” Regina beamed. “I had no idea a simple tram journey could be so much fun.”

“Streetcar,” Emma corrected as she shut down the driver’s panel.

“Of course,” Regina grinned. “Thank you, again. I know our first meeting was..”

“In the past,” Emma smiled kindly.

Regina smiled gratefully before looking around the streetcar, “so.. what happens now? Does someone take over from you?”

“Oh, I have another journey to do,” Emma said with a shrug.

“Oh,” Regina looked around the empty carriage. “Would you like some more company or have I bored you enough for one day?”

A smile washed over Emma’s face, “I’d love some company, are you sure? It’s another two-hour trip?”

“We were talking so much during that journey back that the time just flew by,” Regina admitted.

And so Emma set up the other driver’s console with Regina leaning against the wall while Emma explained to the brunette the training she had undertaken in be a streetcar operator. Passengers started to arrive and soon enough they were underway again and Emma told Regina stories of past Mardi Gras parades on Saint Charles Avenue and pointed out her favourite mansion houses.

Some drunk young men wolf whistled at them as the streetcar went by and Emma shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“You have to admit this city is obsessed with alcohol,” Regina turned to Emma with a grin, desperate to poke holes in Emma’s love affair with New Orleans.

“No more so than other places, we just have more relaxed rules,” Emma shrugged.

“But those slushie machines,” Regina laughed.

Emma grinned, “hey, it gets hot, what can I say? Some people just feel more refreshed after a frozen mojito!”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried one,” Emma gently elbowed Regina and the brunette laughed.

The streetcar came to a stop by some traffic lights at a particularly busy junction and Regina tapped Emma on the shoulder, “open the door.”

“What?” Emma frowned.

“Open the door,” Regina repeated.

Emma looked up to see that Regina was engaged in some silent communication by waving at a bartender in a run-down old bar. With a laugh Emma opened the door, “I won’t wait for you,” she warned.

Regina took off quickly and the bartender was already pouring her an alcoholic slushie as Regina waved some dollar bills in his direction as she ran across the thankfully empty road. Emma laughed as her eyes flickered from the red light in front of her to the quick exchange of money and drink that was taking place at the bar. Regina quickly looked for traffic before running back and got back into the streetcar at just the second the lights changed to green. 

Emma closed the door and laughed loudly as she pulled the bell and started the streetcar in motion again. The passengers who had been watching Regina’s alcohol dash burst into spontaneous applause and Regina curtsied and held her drink aloft to them.

“I would have got you one but you’re driving,” Regina explained with a laugh. “And I was against the clock.”

“No problem,” Emma laughed. “What did you get?”

Regina regarded the icy drink with a frown before sniffing the top, “I think I got red.”

Emma kept an eye on the road as she reached up and pulled Regina’s hand down and took a small sip of the drink through the bright green straw, “mmm, strawberry daiquiri! Good choice!”

Regina took a sip herself and winced, “uch, sugar and colourings.”

“Yeah,” Emma admitted. “Never seen a strawberry in its life.”

The journey raced by and Emma found herself hoping for more passengers on the journey back towards Canal Street just so they could spend some more time together. They laughed until they cried and Emma felt her breath restrict in her throat each time Regina placed her hand on Emma’s arm or shoulder when she spoke. 

“Is that a casino down there?” Regina asked as they turned onto Canal Street.

“Yep,” Emma nodded as she carefully navigated around the traffic and tourists.

“Suppose you work there too,” Regina laughed at her joke.

At Emma’s silence she stared at the blonde, “seriously? How many jobs do you have?”

“A few,” Emma shrugged.

“But you do work at the casino?” Regina pressed.

“Yeah, tomorrow actually.”

“So, as I’ve consumed half of the world’s worst strawberry daiquiri you’ll have to bear with me here,” Regina said as she placed her arm around Emma’s shoulder while the blonde drove up the busy street. “A bar tender, first aider, tourist officer, streetcar driver, water aerobics instructor and casino employee?”

Emma found herself laughing, even though she knew she flittered from job to job it was still amusing to hear Regina listing them on her hand.

“Yep, there’s more but you’ll have to wait to see what they are,” Emma said flirtatiously.

“Oh, will I now?” Regina laughed melodically.

A few minutes later the journey was over and Emma picked up her rucksack and handed over the streetcar to her co-worker. The women were stood in the large central reservation of Canal Street, the streetcar tracks on either side of them and the main road on either side of that.

“I had a great time this evening,” Emma said as she leaned casually against a lamppost.

“So did I,” Regina admitted. “Except that drink, I thought this place was famous for its cocktails!”

“You need me to make you one,” Emma said. “Not buy one for three bucks.”

“Oh, do you charge more?” Regina raised her eyebrow.

“I think you can afford me,” Emma said and quickly took a step forward and placed a kiss on Regina’s lips.

Regina jumped back, startled, “what are you doing?”

Emma’s eyes flew wide open as she took in Regina’s shocked and horrified expression, “oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not gay,” Regina hissed at the blonde and looked around to see if anyone was watching the scene. “What.. why.. why did you kiss me?”

“Well.. duh,” Emma said and immediately wished she had managed to come up with something better.

“You’re.. oh..” Regina took a deep breath. “I’m.. flattered, really, but I’m straight. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”

Emma swallowed and attempted to look casual as she shook her head, “it’s fine, no problem.. I’m the one who’s sorry..”

Regina stared wordlessly at the blonde before finally nodding her head, “thank you.. for a lovely evening. I really did enjoy the sights. I’ll.. well.. I.. should be going.”

Emma nodded, “okay, you know your way back?”

Regina nodded, the smile gone from her face and replaced with a serious expression, “I do. Goodnight, Emma.”

“’Night, Regina,” Emma said as she watched the brunette turn and walk away.

Emma watched until Regina was out of sight and then leaned back against the lamppost and sighed to herself, “Emma, you idiot..”


	5. Chapter 5

Emma had half expected to see Regina outside her apartment building, such was the frequency of their bumping into each other the previous day. And so Emma slowly peeked around the corner of the street door and looked in both directions three times before she finally decided it was safe to leave. 

Grabbing a coffee in her third favourite coffee place, as she considered it the least touristy, Emma took the long route down towards the Mississippi river. She had been due to work at the casino that morning but after the incredibly awkward attempted kiss with Regina the night before Emma was terrified that Regina would come into the casino and confront her. 

To ward off any potential public embarrassment Emma had called one of her colleagues at the casino and asked to switch shifts. Luckily Ralph, being a local, was incredible laid back and had immediately agreed to the switch without asking any questions. 

Missing out on her morning shift at the casino left Emma at a loose end, something that she absolutely hated. While many people enjoyed a break Emma loved to work and having struggled to find employment many times in the past she hated the feeling of not being productive. 

Not being productive was one thing but spending that time worrying about her actions from the previous evening and replaying the ill-fated kiss over and over was enough to drive Emma insane. After cleaning her apartment for the second time that morning Emma eventually decided that she needed distraction and called her favourite employer, Billy.

Billy was the events manager for one of the few remaining steamboats that took passengers out on trips up and down the Mississippi river. Five months after arriving in New Orleans, and following an endless stream of bar work in some of the seedier places in city, Emma had decided that a change was in order and had applied to work on the steamboat. After dropping off an application form Billy had called and asked her to come to the dock for an interview.

As it turned out the interview was conducted on plastic patio furniture on the dockside over a bottle of soda from the nearby machine. Billy asked about Emma’s experience of serving food and drinks but hardly listened to the answer before asking if Emma could swim. At Emma’s nod he held out his hand and said, “welcome aboard.”

Two hours later Emma had found herself aboard the steamboat shadowing her new colleagues Mary and Beth. Both women were in their sixties and clearly had more interest in chatting with the passengers and giving them tips on restaurants and jazz clubs rather than serving drinks or taking food orders. Not that Emma minded, she had only been in New Orleans a few months and the tips were relevant for her too.

Emma had quickly decided that the steamboat was the place for her. The historical and majestic ship ploughed its way up and down the Mississippi effortlessly and if Emma closed her eyes for a moment she could imagine a simpler time. All stresses and worries seemed to disappear on the river, the gentle sway of the boat and the sound of the water being churned by the wheel came together in unique blend.

Over the years Emma had taken on most of the jobs aboard the steamboat and had managed to progress to the role of a host which Emma found to be more of a pleasure than an actual job. Being a host involved greeting people on the dockside while they waited for the boat to be prepared, helping them to board and then walking around the boat during the cruise answering questions and promoting other events aboard the steamboat at later dates.

After a couple of shifts she had joked to Billy that she was literally being paid to chat to passengers. Billy agreed and showed Emma some of the online reviews that had already come in from the previous days. The reviews were extremely positive and one even mentioned Emma personally and thanked her for her time and tourist suggestions. Billy explained to Emma that the positive publicity was worth its weight in gold and it was definitely worth the company’s time to pay Emma to chat to the passengers.

Emma loved to chat and the wide variety of part-time jobs she had enabled her to speak to people from all walks of life. No matter what was happening in Emma’s life she knew that surrounding herself with people and passing the time of day with some small talk would soon improve her mood and help her to stop thinking about whatever was bothering her. 

With thoughts of the miscalculated kiss rushing through her mind, Emma knew that she was in desperate need of some distraction and couldn’t think of anywhere better than the steamboat. After a quick phone call she had changed her shift and would be on the afternoon jazz cruise, a personal favourite as the atmosphere was amazing. 

After sneaking out of her apartment and with the takeaway coffee in her hand and her earphones playing her favourite playlist in her ears Emma made her way towards the steamboat dock. Just before the dock was a paved plaza with a number of popular cafes on either side, chairs and tables scattered across the plaza for the best view of the river and the boats.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Emma mumbled to herself as she came to a dead stop at the entrance of the plaza.

Regina sat alone at a table with a glass of water and a half-consumed cup of coffee in front of her. The brunette was facing away from Emma and looking at the river through large, dark sunglasses. 

Emma quickly calculated the best way around Regina to get towards the dock without being spotted but suddenly realised what she was doing and sighed to herself. The kiss had been an honest mistake, Emma had been convinced that Regina had been flirting with her but the brunette was clearly just lonely and trying to make a friend. As embarrassing as it was Emma knew that she couldn’t spend the next thirteen days trying to avoid the brunette and the best way forward was to try to clear the air.

Emma muted her music and pulled one of the earphones out of her ear and took a deep breath before walking over and standing in front of Regina with a shy smile.

“Hi, I’m Emma Swan, gay and with the worst gaydar on the planet. I sometimes mistakenly kiss straight women but I promise it’s not a regular occurrence.”

Regina looked up at Emma with unreadable eyes due to the sunglasses but a smile danced along her lips. After a short pause she raised her hand, “Regina Mills. Pleasure to meet you, Miss Swan.”

Emma moved her coffee cup to her left hand and shook Regina’s proffered hand with a relieved smile.

“I’m sorry, I.. I just..” Emma began.

“Don’t mention it,” Regina shook her head softly. “It was a stressful day for me yesterday, you’d been very kind, I’m sorry that I reacted in the way I did.”

“So, we’re good? I don’t have to sneak around the city in case I bump into you?” Emma laughed.

“Were you?”

Emma smiled at Regina’s raised eyebrow that appeared from under the sunglasses.

“Might have been,” the blonde admitted.

“Well, you’re doing a terrible job.”

“Yeah, seems fate keeps throwing us together,” Emma pointed out.

“Indeed it does. Are you going to the casino today? Or are you driving streetcars?” Regina smiled, “or maybe the tourist office?”

Emma rubbed the back of her neck, “er, no, not exactly any of them.”

“Day off?” Regina enquired with a surprised tone.

“Nope,” Emma grinned.

“Oh my God, you’re going to yet another job, aren’t you?”

Emma laughed and nodded her head.

“Are you trying for some kind of record?” Regina deadpanned.

Emma shrugged her shoulders, “I like change.”

“So, what is it today? Lion tamer? Trainee astronaut?”

“Nah, that’s Monday,” Emma joked. 

Even with the dark glasses Emma could tell Regina was rolling her eyes.

“Actually I’m working there for the afternoon,” Emma said as she pointed her finger towards the steamboat at the dock.

Regina frowned as she looked in the direction where Emma was pointing, “where?”

“The steamboat,” Emma clarified.

“Don’t tell me, you’re the Captain?”

Emma laughed, “no, I’m a host.”

“Host? What does a host do?” Regina enquired with a smile.

“Help people aboard, make sure everyone is happy, point out interesting sights along the river,” Emma answered.

Regina looked thoughtfully at the steamboat and before Emma knew what she was doing an invitation spilled from her lips, “would you like to come? Consider it our second date.”

Regina laughed lightly at the quip and regarded the boat with interest, “how long is the trip?”

“It’s a three-hour cruise, food is served aboard,” Emma said while mentally berating herself for inviting Regina at all.

“Maybe,” Regina sighed and looked away from the steamboat. “I wouldn’t want to get in the way. In your way.”

Emma nodded her understanding, “it’s a large boat, but I understand if you have plans.”

A waitress appeared and placed a Caesar salad on the table in front of Regina and Regina thanked her as she nodded and left the table again.

“I’ll leave you to your lunch,” Emma said, not wanting to interrupt Regina any further. “Seriously though, if you’re at a loose end you should come along, we depart at two and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.”

“Thank you,” Regina nodded politely, “I’ll think about it.”

Emma nodded and gave an awkward wave goodbye before putting her earphone back in and walking towards the dock. She cringed at the wave she had offered and shook her head in dismay at how geeky she could sometimes be.

An hour later Emma was standing by the dockside speaking to the passengers who were gathering and waiting to board the boat. Emma’s favourite game was attempting to guess where people were from before they spoke and had discovered that many stereotypes were stereotypes for a reason. 

While speaking with passengers and asking them about their hometowns, vacation plans and answering historical questions about the steamboat Emma couldn’t help but look for Regina in the crowd. Emma found herself torn between relief that Regina was nowhere to be seen and disappointment.

After a while the captain gave the all clear for passenger boarding to begin and Emma assisted a wheelchair-bound passenger up the ramp and onto the boat. Positioning the passenger and her family at the back of the boat with the best view of the enormous paddlewheel Emma started to walk around the boat and chat with the other passengers.

As Emma laughed and joked with a large group of passengers she could feel her troubles lifting away. The soft sounds of jazz were playing through the boat’s speakers and the sound of different accents and even languages soothed Emma as she felt a part of something more important than her own embarrassment over a mistaken kiss.

The steamboat’s whistle sounded loudly and the ropes were untied from the dock and the large wheel started to come to life to slowly manoeuvre the boat onto the river. The passengers’ attention was diverted to the large wheel and Emma used the distraction to head down towards the engine room area so she could grab a drink from the crew area. 

The boat was a maze of levels and stairwells and Emma navigated her way along the boat taking five different sets of stairs to get to the front of the boat. The front of the boat was always empty at the start of the cruise as passengers made a beeline to the large wheel at the back. 

Emma was surprised when she arrived on the lower deck at the front of the boat and saw someone sat at a table reading a book. Emma’s surprised increased as she realised that someone was Regina.

“You came,” Emma said with a smile as she looked at the book Regina was absorbed in. “And you’re reading about the streetcars.”

“Yes, on both counts,” Regina said as she glanced at the front of the book. “I met someone with a passion for the streetcars and she made them sound so fascinating I had to learn more.”

Emma smiled at the compliment.

“You’re missing the wheel.”

“The wind is coming from the east,” Regina commented. “As delightful as the river is I don’t wish to be covered in it. I’ll have a look at it once we have turned around.”

Emma nodded her understanding and watched as Regina resumed reading her book. 

“Okay, well, I’ll leave you to it,” Emma smiled politely. “I’ll see you around.”

Emma passed Regina and headed towards the open door to the engine room.

“Emma.”

Emma paused and turned around to see Regina turning to look at her.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Regina said with a smile. 

“You’re welcome,” Emma nodded and quickly left for the safety of the engine room. 

As soon as she was out of sight she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, the image of Regina’s full and beautiful smile seemingly burnt onto her brain and she sighed. She was falling for the brunette.


	6. Chapter 6

Emma thought back to each and every time she had complained about the stifling heat of a summer in New Orleans and wished she could feel like that again. Her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering and the thick blanket that had been wrapped around her shoulders seemed to be doing no good for her body temperature at all. Worse of all Regina was staring at her and she looked furious.

The staffroom was emptying out now the drama had died down and her colleagues realised she was okay and just needed some time to get herself together. On one hand Emma was thankful that they were getting back to their jobs but on the other hand she didn’t want to be left alone with Regina. Not that she quite understood what Regina was doing there but it seemed like the brunette was absolutely not going to be moved.

Mary, the last member of staff left in the staffroom, clearly wanted to know who Regina was and why she had barged her way into the staff area when Emma was brought in. But by the way Mary shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other it was clear that her curiosity wasn’t as strong as her desire to leave. 

With a kind squeeze on Emma’s blanket-covered shoulder Mary left Emma and Regina alone in the below deck staffroom. Silence loomed and Emma looked down at her feet at the large pool of water that was forming on the floor below the wooden bench she was sat on.

“I thought you were dead.”

Emma’s head snapped up and she looked at the irate brunette with a frown, “you were.. worried about me?”

“Of course I was!”

“You seem kinda angry,” Emma pointed out as she lowered her gaze again.

Regina let out a deep breath and removed her hands from her hips as she looked down at the pathetic looking soaking wet blonde in front of her.

“It all happened so fast,” Regina said, her tone softening as she sat on a wooden bench opposite Emma.

¬¬Emma wanted to point out that it had happened a hell of a lot faster from her perspective but she figured it really wasn’t the right time to be arguing with the brunette.

Another shiver took over Emma’s body and she curled into herself even tighter as her hands gripped the blanket tightly. She closed her eyes and she could see the whole spectacle playing out in her mind’s eye.

The guy was in his late thirties and clearly had been appreciating New Orleans freely available alcohol policies for some time before he boarded the steamboat. 

At first he had been with his girlfriend inside the restaurant, sampling the local cuisine and listening to the live jazz band playing. Emma had spotted him immediately and made a mental note to keep an eye on him, years of working in bars had given her some kind of sixth sense when it came to who might cause trouble.

Emma’s impression had been right when she saw the man arguing with his girlfriend and storming out of the restaurant about halfway through the cruise. With a sigh she excused herself from the conversation she was in and headed outside to keep tabs on him. She soon found him walking around the upper deck while knocking back more drink from a hipflask he’d managed to sneak on board.

As Emma made her way over to him she saw him drop the hipflask to the floor, in his clumsy attempt to pick it up he managed to kick it through the railing. She wasn’t quite sure what his drunken mind had planned but she started to run towards him as she saw him climb up the railing in a poor attempt at catching the hipflask before it fell three decks down and into the murky water of the Mississippi river.

Of course he missed the hipflask, it was long gone before he even had climbed the railing. But once he was stood on the railing his lack of coordination had him pitching forward and over the railing and into the river as well.

Emma knew immediately that his drunken state would prevent him from being able to swim and probably even from being able to catch a lifebuoy. She quickly spoke into her radio to alert the captain to the man overboard situation and a split second later she found herself taking a dive from the top deck.

The water hadn’t been cold at first, Emma easily came to the surface and looked around for him but he was nowhere in sight. She absentmindedly realised that she had landed right by where Regina had been sitting. The river style of steamboat was unique in its flat bottom and shallow hull which meant that there was only a few inches between the water and the lowest deck.

Regina had stood up and was staring at Emma in shock and a second later Emma took a deep breath and dived under the water in search of the drunk passenger. As she struggled further and further down she began to feel the cold of the water as it soaked her clothes.

The murky water made it impossible to see very far and Emma resorted to using her outstretched hands in the hope that she would accidentally find him. Just as Emma could feel her oxygen running out she managed to grab onto something solid. She clenched her fist and kicked her feet hard to bring herself and whatever she had managed to grab onto to the surface. At the time she honestly didn’t know if she had found the drunken passenger or a piece of garbage floating in the river.

As she reached the surface she was relieved to discover that she had managed to grab the arm of the passenger but her relief soon faded when she realised how far away from the steamboat they were. Steamboats were notoriously hard to slow down and manoeuvre but Emma knew there was no way she would be able to swim back to the ship. The cold was getting to her and she was shiver and attempting to tread water for both herself and the drunken passenger who insisted on screaming in her ear that he couldn’t swim.

It felt like an hour but in reality it was only six or seven minutes until Emma and the passenger were hauled back onto the boat. The passenger was immediately taken to the first aid room while Emma was wrapped in a blanket and taken to the staffroom.

“I’m fine,” Emma finally said when the silence seemed to be dragging on.

“That remains to be seen,” Regina huffed.

Emma let out a small chuckle, “seriously, I’m just a bit cold, I’ll warm up in no time.”

A moment later Regina got up and sat beside Emma and wrapped her arm around Emma’s blanket-covered shoulder and pulled her close in a futile attempt to help warm the blonde. 

“Thank you,” Emma mumbled.

“You were under the water for so long and no one was doing anything.”

“Standard procedure,” Emma admitted quietly. “Once someone has gone in you have to wait before anyone else goes in after them. Or they’ll be more crew in the water than on the boat.”

“I thought you were dead,” Regina repeated and Emma felt the arm around her shoulder tighten.

“I’m fine, really.”

“How did he fall in?”

Emma took a breath, she knew Regina wasn’t going to like the answer, “he was drunk.”

Silence passed for a few moments and Emma knew that Regina was trying to curb her words.

“I see,” was all Regina eventually managed.

They sat in silence for a long time, Emma could feel the shivers in her body gradually subsiding and she knew her hair and clothes were starting to dry under the blanket. 

“You don’t have to sit in here, I’m okay,” Emma said suddenly. “You should go back to the cruise, the Gumbo is really good. And the jazz band, you should totally hear them.”

Emma felt disappointment course through her body as Regina removed her arm.

“Would you say it’s the best Gumbo and jazz in New Orleans?”

Emma looked up at the brunette with a curious glance, “what do you mean?”

“Is the Gumbo the best I will taste in New Orleans? Is the band the best I will hear?” Regina repeated.

“Well,” Emma shrugged, “maybe not the best but they..”

“Maybe you could show me where to find the best Gumbo?” Regina questioned carefully. “As friends, of course.”

Emma smiled and nodded her head slowly, “sure, that would be great.”

“You’d be doing me a favour,” Regina said absently. “Clearly you are an expert on best way to vacation in this city.”

“You have to try Mama Dee’s Jambalaya,” Emma said thoughtfully as her mind raced to think of the best places to take Regina.

Regina chuckled as she reached into her bag and pulled out a small notepad and pen. She flipped open the notepad and wrote her phone number down before tearing the sheet of paper and handed it to Emma.

“Give me a call when you have a ten minute window between your numerous jobs,” Regina quipped. 

“How’s tonight?” Emma said quickly, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity.

Regina grinned and nodded her head, “tonight sounds good.”

“Great,” Emma smiled as she clutched the piece of paper in her hand. Suddenly the cold was no longer bothering her and even the smell of the river seemed to have faded.

“I’ll leave you to.. freshen up,” Regina said as she stood up and put her bag over her shoulder. “Text me a time and location and I’ll see you this evening.”

Regina turned to leave but paused and looked back at Emma cautiously, “as friends.”

“As friends,” Emma nodded quickly.

Regina smiled brightly and gave Emma one last look over before leaving the staffroom.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite Regina clearly stating that dinner wasn’t a date, Emma didn’t see any reason to not go all out when it came to getting ready for the dinner. Nothing helped with the biting cold of the Mississippi river like knowing that in a few hours she would be taking Regina out for an evening of great food and entertainment. Hopefully winning the brunette over a little in the process.

Emma had kept out of sight for the end of the cruise, she didn’t want any of the passengers grabbing any more photographs of her considering the state of her hair and clothes. After the passengers had disembarked most of the crew came down to the staffroom tell Emma that she was either brave or foolish, mainly the latter. 

Mary offered Emma a lift home but only on the proviso that all of the windows were open to help the smell of the dirty river water escape. In the car Mary told Emma that the drunken passenger was doing well but was milking the sympathy from his girlfriend, probably in the hope that it would prevent him from getting in trouble. 

As they sat in the car outside of Emma’s apartment, Mary finally spoke up.

“So.. the fancy brunette?”

Emma swallowed, she really didn’t know how to explain her relationship Regina to anyone.

“She’s just someone I had been talking to earlier.”

“She was very worried,” Mary commented with a knowing grin. “Looked like she wanted to go in the river after you.”

Emma blushed at the statement and nodded her head, “yeah, she seemed worried.”

Mary wisely decided not to push it and Emma thanked her for the ride home and quickly went up to her apartment to make some calls. Within ten minutes she had called in a favour and booked a table at her favourite restaurant and composed a message to Regina saying she’d meet her in the lobby of her hotel at six.

Emma’s hands shook as she hit the arrow icon to send the message and she breathed out a shuddering breath. Regina had made it absolutely clear that the dinner was simply between friends but Emma knew she was falling for the brunette so she was going to do her best to pile on the Swan charm. 

As Emma showered, scrubbing her body to get rid of the lingering smell of the river, she thought back to Regina’s reaction and their conversations. Regina may have seemed certain she was straight but Emma certainly had her doubts. 

But Emma had never been the experienced one in the relationship, her own first experience had been with an older woman who was comfortable in her sexuality and certainly not new to the idea of a female lover. Since then Emma and her misfiring gayday had always managed to find women either as experienced as her or more, usually because those women gravitated towards her. Emma had never been anyone’s first and she certainly had no idea about guiding a gay awakening in a supposedly straight woman.

Pausing briefly in lathering the shampoo in her hair she considered if she should be putting some time aside to Google the matter but quickly decided that course of action would only confuse the matter further. 

No, it was easier to let Regina come to the conclusion herself. Emma didn’t know much about the brunette but she did know that she was fiery and quick to anger and the last thing Emma wanted was to be on the receiving end of that.

Time flew by and before Emma knew it she was sitting in the lobby of the Royal hotel waiting for Regina to come downstairs. Emma had decided on a simple white summer dress with a light blue floral print that she considered would probably be in line with Regina’s taste. She fidgeted on the plush sofa in the lobby, attempting to avoid the looks of the staff members who recognised her considering her water aerobics class that she ran in the hotel.

“My, my, you do scrub up well.”

Emma turned around to see Regina strutting towards her in a tight royal blue dress and matching heels.

Emma frowned, “when are you going to get changed?”

Regina paused for a split-second until she identified the twinkle in Emma’s eyes and then lightly tapped the back in the blonde’s head with her clutch bag.

“Cheeky.”

“You look great,” Emma amended with a smile.

“I didn’t know how to dress,” Regina admitted. “I didn’t know if we’d be going to a nice restaurant or if the best Gumbo in New Orleans was served through a hole in a wall.”

Emma laughed, “the guidebooks would have you swarming around some grotty little café downtown but trust your local guide.”

“I do,” Regina said as Emma got to her feet and picked up her handbag and slung it over her shoulder. “My tour guide is a life-saving, first aid giving, streetcar driving, water aerobics instructor.”

“Sounds interesting,” Emma quipped.

“She’s certainly that.”

They stepped out of the hotel and Emma led them down Royal Street, “the place we’re going has a jazz club in the backroom and I’ve got us tickets for the show tonight.”

Regina nodded and grinned, “backroom jazz?”

“Yep, the best kind,” Emma said with a smile.

Emma expertly navigated the traffic and they walked a few short blocks before taking a side street and ending up in a tiny courtyard with a beautiful restaurant.

Regina paused and turned to look at the side street entrance they had just walked through, “I’ve walked past that several times but I never noticed this place.”

“Local knowledge,” Emma winked as she opened the door and gestured for Regina to enter the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant a waiter guided them up the stairs and onto an ornate balcony that overlooked a street which was filled with tourists and one of the many impromptu jazz performances that would pop up on street corners. 

Regina held the menu in her hands but looked with interest at the scene below her and Emma noticed the brunette’s fingers tapping away on the menu in time with the lively beat.

“You like jazz?”

“Never really listened to it before coming here,” Regina admitted.

Emma’s mouth dropped open and she stared incredulously at Regina.

“You’ve never listened to jazz?”

“Nope,” Regina popped the word. “Not my style.”

“Seems to be your style,” Emma pointed to Regina’s tapping fingers.

“It’s catchy, let’s say it’s growing on me.”

The waiter returned and placed a jug of ice cold water on the table and asked for their drink orders.

“Well,” Emma addressed Regina, “you can’t come to New Orleans without having a real cocktail made by a professional bar tender. Would you like a cocktail?”

Regina flipped to the back of the menu and nodded, “yes, I’ll have a Bellini.”

“Two Bellini’s,” Emma smiled at the waiter.

“I’m assuming that it won’t arrive in an icy slush?” Regina joked.

“No, it will even come in a proper glass,” Emma grinned.

“Oh, my, how refined,” Regina put her hand to her chest as she joked.

Emma opened her menu and perused it for a moment before indicating for Regina to lower her menu. When the brunette did Emma reached over and pointed at an entry, “the taste of N’awlins.”

Regina raised her eyebrow as she read the description of the tasting platter and nodded, “well, despite the questionable name.. that does sound appealing.”

Over the next hour they dined on exquisite traditional food and listened to the band on the street below playing a selection of jazz classics. Emma lightly quizzed Regina and found out that the brunette was originally from Brazil but had lived in New York all her adult life. She worked for a public relations company that was owned by her mother, the darkness that flashed through Regina’s eyes quickly told Emma to avoid the subject of the mother.

It was becoming clear that they had literally nothing in common but Emma was amazed at how the conversation flowed so easily and how well they seemed to complement each other. As Regina spoke about her last vacation to Italy several years ago Emma found herself completely enamoured, she knew that other diners were looking at them and Emma couldn’t help the swell of pride. 

Emma smiled as she thought back to the first time she saw Regina and compared that woman to the one sat in front of her now. She didn’t know how it was possible but Regina was becoming more beautiful each and every time they bumped into each other. 

As Regina was speaking about a gondola or a chandelier, Emma wasn’t sure as she was too preoccupied with how lucky she was to be having dinner with the woman, a woman approached the table. It wasn’t until she was practically stood beside Emma that Emma snapped out of her daydream and looked up at the intruder.

“Grace!” Emma grinned and jumped to her feet and embraced the woman.

“Hey, Em!” 

“Oh my God,” Emma exclaimed, “it’s been.. wow, three years?”

The tall blonde nodded her head, “yep, I just got back to town a couple of days ago, I was going to call you but I’ve been so busy. Then I was having dinner with my girlfriend and I looked out here and I thought it was you!”

Emma looked at her ex-girlfriend with a smile, “wow, it’s so good to see you.”

In breaking with the tradition that lesbians could never remain friends with their ex, Emma managed to remain on reasonably good terms with all her significant exes. 

“Oh, Grace, this is Regina,” Emma said as she suddenly remembered where she was and who she was with. “She’s on vacation here.”

Regina held up her hand for Grace and Emma noticed that the once genuine smile had been replaced with a tight grin.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Regina said.

“Likewise,” Grace smiled as she shook Regina’s hand. “I’ll let you get back to your dinner.”

Grace quickly pulled Emma into one last hug before kissing her cheek, “I’ll call you, we’ll catch up.”

The blonde’s exchanged their farewells and Emma sat back down again as she watched Grace walk away.

“So,” Regina said, clearly unable to remain silent.

“We dated for a while,” Emma admitted with a smile at Regina’s blush.

“Oh,” Regina said as she turned around to catch a glimpse of the blonde who had taken her seat inside the restaurant again. “Didn’t work out?”

“No,” Emma shook her head, “but we’re still friends. I think we were always more friends than lovers.”

Emma pretended not to notice the intense flush of red that was making its way across Regina’s cheeks.

“I.. I see,” Regina said eventually. “It’s nice that you’re still friendly.”

Emma nodded, “life’s too short. We all need friends, right?”

Regina let out a small chuckle and Emma raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Some of us clearly find it easier to make friends than others,” Regina answered the unspoken question.

Emma nodded her head in understanding.

Shortly after the interruption Emma got the conversation back on track and started to tell Regina about her worst University professor and before long the brunette was smiling and even laughing again.

Two more rounds of Bellini’s were served as well as a shared dessert of Beignets with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. Emma insisted on paying the bill when it arrived, much to Regina’s annoyance. They took their half-finished drinks and made their way downstairs and into the backroom to take their seats for the jazz show that was due to start within the next fifteen minutes.

The room was small but well decorated, a small stage was raised at the end of the room and small round tables and old fashioned mismatched chairs surrounded the tables. The room was empty and Emma turned to Regina with a grin.

“Where would you like to sit?”

“Are you sure it’s tonight?” Regina looked at her watch and then around the empty room. “It’s due to start in eleven minutes.”

“This is New Orleans,” Emma chuckled. “It won’t start on time and people will arrive about thirty seconds before.”

Regina laughed and pointed to a table near the front but off to the side and they both sat down. A waiter appeared and offered them more drinks and Emma looked cheekily at Regina, “what do you say? Two more?”

Regina bit her lip and nodded, “go on then.”

“Two Bellini’s,” Emma ordered with a smile.

Once they were alone again Regina shifted uncomfortably, “so.. this may be completely inappropriate so don’t feel obligated to answer..”

“Okay,” Emma said easily, having a feeling she already knew what was coming next.

“How.. did you know you were gay?”

Emma nodded to herself, exactly as she had expected.

“Well, I’ve never been interested in men,” Emma started and chuckled at Regina’s curious eyebrow lift.

“Never?”

“Never. And when I was about thirteen I saw two women kissing in the grocery store. I couldn’t get the image out of my head, it was so different and kinda forbidden. A couple of years later I was dared to kiss a girl at my school so I did. Never looked back.”

“So you just knew? Never had any doubts?”

Emma nodded her head, “I can see an attractive man and think that he looked nice, I can identify that he is what society calls attractive but I don’t feel anything. Not like I do when I see an attractive woman.”

The waiter placed two Bellini’s on the table and Regina used the opportunity to turn her blushing face towards the stage.

“Can I ask you a question?” Emma asked once the waiter had left.

Regina looked terrified as she slowly nodded her head.

“Was that the best Gumbo you ever ate?” Emma asked with a smile.

Relief washed over Regina’s face, “absolutely delicious. The whole platter was amazing.”

Emma nodded and was about to speak again when she heard the sound of more people entering the small room and turned to see Grace and her girlfriend enter the room. Emma smiled and gave a small wave to the blonde.

“We can go if you like?” Regina offered.

“No, it’s fine,” Emma replied. “We’re good.”

“May I ask why you broke up?” Regina asked as she watched Grace and her girlfriend take a seat and look at the drinks menu.

“We just drifted apart,” Emma admitted wistfully. “Mind-blowing sex can’t sustain a relationship forever.”

As soon as the words came out of Emma’s slightly drunken mouth she looked up at Regina’s shocked and blushing face.

“No, I suppose not,” Regina managed in a whisper as she looked over towards Grace with a curious gaze.

Emma decided the stream of Bellini’s were starting to go to her head and wisely steered the conversation back to the jazz performance that they were about to see. After a few minutes the room started to fill and before long it was packed solid and the atmosphere was electrifying. 

A couple of women sat at the table beside Emma and Regina and started making out while they waited for the band to arrive. Regina looked split between fascinated at the open display and wanting to avert her eyes and Emma had to smile at the conflicting messages the brunette was dishing out. 

Luckily the band soon arrived and the lead saxophonist introduced all the musicians in the band and they began to play soulful and lively jazz tunes. Emma smiled as she watched Regina taking everything in, the brunette was clearly enjoying the live music and was watching all of the musicians with interest. Every now and then chocolate eyes drifted towards the lesbian couple, one sitting on the lap of the other and occasionally sharing loving kisses.

Halfway through the set the waiter took more orders and before Emma had a chance to speak Regina had ordered two more Bellini’s for them. Emma watched Regina with interest, the glassy look in her eyes and the slight swaying indicated that the alcohol was also hitting her. 

At the end of the set they left the restaurant and slowly walked down Royal Street back towards Regina’s hotel discussing the jazz and the food. Regina was animated and excited as she asked questions about both and Emma smiled at the enthusiasm from someone who had publically slated the whole of New Orleans on Bourbon Street a couple of days before. 

The lesbian couple were walking hand in hand a few steps in front of them and Emma noticed Regina watching them with interest. Suddenly the couple stopped and pulled each other into a passionate open-mouthed kiss that had Regina’s eyes nearly bugging out of her head.

As they passed the couple and continued walking Regina commented, “there’s a lot of that around here.”

“Love?” Emma questioned.

“Public displays of it, yes,” Regina nodded.

“Does that make you uncomfortable?”

“I’m not used to it,” Regina admitted.

“Like jazz?” Emma chuckled.

“Like jazz,” Regina nodded. “Maybe it will grow on me like jazz did.”

Emma swallowed hard, unable to see anything other than a flirtatious comment in Regina’s words.

“Well, here’s your hotel,” Emma said as she stopped and took a step back from Regina in an attempt to control herself. “I had a great night.”

“So did I,” Regina nodded, swaying slightly. “Wonderful food, wonderful music. Wonderful company.”

Emma saw a glint in Regina’s eye and knew what was going to happen a split second before it did as Regina lunged forward and placed a sloppy kiss on the blonde’s lips. Emma quickly took a step back, not wanting to ruin the progress she had made with Regina and risk not seeing her again.

“Regina, you’re drunk.. and straight, remember?”

Regina pouted, “I’m not drunk.”

“You are,” Emma said as she caught the brunette by her upper arms as she attempted to swoop in for another kiss. “I’m not going to kiss you while you’re drunk, I don’t want to take advantage.”

“It’s just a friendly goodnight kiss,” Regina winked seductively and Emma knew she had to get out of there or she’d be pressing the brunette up against the wall of the hotel in no time. Emma quickly placed a swift kiss on Regina’s cheek.

“Goodnight, Regina,” Emma said with a small smile.

Regina nodded her head in understanding that Emma wasn’t about to allow anything else to happen, “goodnight, dear.”

Emma let go of Regina’s upper arms and watched as the brunette turned and walked into the hotel. As soon as Emma was certain she was safely in the building she turned and started to walk up the street towards her apartment. When she first saw Regina she thought she would be trouble but she had no idea how much trouble she’d end up being.


	8. Chapter 8

The distant sound of people waking up around the hotel eventually awoke Regina and she turned over in the large king-size bed to lay on her back. The thrum of a post-alcohol buzz caused her brain to take a little longer than usual to realise where she was and piece her memories together.

Suddenly she sat up in bed and clutched the sheet to her naked chest in shock.

“Shit!”

Total recollection of the previous evening came back like a tsunami crashing against her frontal lobe and she brought her other hand up to hold her head as she winced.

“Shit,” she muttered.

She had kissed Emma Swan. She had claimed it was an innocent goodnight kiss but she had intended for it to be anything but. Regina swallowed hard as the throbbing in her head increased and she tried to figure out exactly what was going on with her. 

“I’m not gay,” Regina muttered to herself as she shook her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from her mind. “I am not gay.”

Even Regina could tell that the statement sounded confused and hesitant so she repeated it again, this time more firmly as she looked at her reflection in the mirror above the desk directly in front of her.

“I am not gay.”

Regina regarded her reflection for a few moments before adding, “so why did you kiss a woman?”

Regina frowned at her reflection, “and why can’t you get her out of your head?”

A few silent moments passed while Regina searched the reflection of her own face for answers. Eventually she stood up, pulling the bed sheet from the bed and wrapping it around her body.

She walked over to the mirror and stared at herself for a long time before taking a deep breath.

“I’m not gay but I kissed a woman.”

With a tilt of her head she continued, “I’ve been under a lot of stress.”

“I’m in a strange city, alone, lonely.”

Regina nodded her head in self agreement with the statement.

“I’m.. confused. Recovering from.. from emotional loss.”

She snapped her fingers, “I’d had a lot to drink.”

She nodded.

“She.. she’s a nice girl and we had a nice night and I.. I was confused, emotional, drunk. It.. was wrong.”

Regina looked at her reflection and nodded again and stared at her reflection as if daring it to argue with her. When nothing was forthcoming her eyes lowered and she saw the hotel directory laying on the desk. 

Panic coursed through her body as she suddenly remembered that Emma would be coming to the hotel today to teach a water aerobics class. Regina lunged for the directory and hurriedly flipped through the pages to find the activities list and quickly ran her finger down the page.

“Midday.”

Regina looked at her watch and noticed that it was coming up to eleven o’clock. She hurriedly turned and headed for the shower, nearly tripping over her sheet in the self-imposed rush.

“I’ll.. go to the museum,” she said to herself as she reached into the luxurious shower cubicle and turned on the shower. “I’m a tourist, of course I’d not be here. Doesn’t mean I’m avoiding her. Just.. seeing a museum.”

Twenty-five minutes later Regina had showered and dressed and was speed-walking through the hotel lobby in order to escape before Emma could arrive. 

As she stepped out of the door and onto the street she took a deep breath to steady herself from the unbelievably hot and stuffy atmosphere. 

She may have been born in Brazil but neither of her parents were natives of the country and her time there was short-lived. Despite frequent visits as an adult she still found a hot climate difficult to cope with, her father would always joke about her being a bad Latina. She smiled at the memory before shaking her head and signing deeply. She started to rush up the street and towards a nearby café that she desperately hoped Emma didn’t work in.

During her shower she had realised that she still hadn’t quite gotten to the bottom of just how many jobs Emma had and exactly where they were all located. Trying to avoid a person with multiple tourism-related part-time jobs was going to be extremely difficult but in her panic Regina was willing to give it a try.

* * *

Five hours passed. Five hours of Regina looking over her shoulder and tiptoeing around establishments in case Emma worked there. 

First it was the coffee shop where she had breakfast, then one of the many museums. Following that it was another café, then a small parade that Regina had ended up running away from the second she saw it. A while later it was a restaurant, then the pharmacy and finally a bench by the docks.

Every single location seemingly terrified Regina. She had been on edge the entire day it was starting to take its toll. With Emma nowhere in sight and no word from the blonde via her mobile Regina had a pain in her neck from constantly twisting her neck around to seek out long blonde curls. 

Regina remembered when she was a little girl and she used to play chasing games with her father. She would run up to him and tap his arm and declare that he was ‘it’ before turning and running away. As soon as she started to flee she would be overcome with terror, knowing that her pursuer was faster and stronger than she was. Another element was the fear of being utterly blind as to his progress. 

Almost immediately she would begin to hyperventilate as she heard her father approaching her and saying he was coming to get her. She knew her father would never hurt her but there was something about being chased that she hated and it scared her.

Now she felt like she was in a giant version of the game where Emma was potentially hiding around any corner and would suddenly come rushing towards her. The mere thought had Regina’s breath quickening and she looked around the docks at the people milling around to assure herself that she was safe.

Five hours was enough, Regina knew she couldn’t maintain this level of panic for any longer so she decided it was up to her to change the rules. If she was going to get any peace then she needed to confront Emma herself before the blonde had a chance to do it.

She turned her cell phone over and over in her hand as she debated what to do. Part of her wanted to arrange to meet up with the blonde but she knew if she did that she would be giving Emma time to prepare.

Regina didn’t know why she considered that a bad thing but she most certainly did. She wanted the element of surprise, she wanted Emma to not have any time to think of a comeback, a retort, an incorrect assumption for Regina’s behaviour the previous night.

Regina wanted to find Emma and to apologise for her behaviour, to reiterate that she was not gay and that her actions were simply down to stress, alcohol and loneliness. Regina winced, no definitely not loneliness, just stress and alcohol. She was not gay, that was the main message she needed to convey. 

Standing up Regina looked towards the Mississippi river and could see the steamboat making its way upstream. Asking anyone on the boat where Emma might be would be impossible. There were two other places where Emma might be, or where her colleagues might know her location, the tourist office up on Basin Street and the bar where she first met the blonde. 

Regina mentally brought up a map of the city in her mind and calculated that Basin Street was a fifteen minute walk. The extreme heat caused Regina to frown at the very idea of walking so far and therefore the bar on Bourbon Street it was.

As Regina walked she considered how convenient it was that everything in the French Quarter was within easy walking distance, that is, if it wasn’t for the intense heat. Despite her being sensibly dressed in a white tank top and khaki shorts she still felt the heat and knew that her hair was starting to stick to her sweating forehead. She hoped that wherever Emma might be working that evening was air conditioned.

As she turned a corner onto Bourbon Street Regina gave herself a mental pat on the back that she had correctly remembered just where the rundown CeeCee’s bar was. She quickly stepped in and felt a rush of relief when she saw that Emma was not behind the bar.

“Hey,” the young brunette smiled. “What can I get you?”

Regina took a step into the bar and looked around nervously, “I was looking for Emma? Is she not working today?”

The tall, skinny brunette shook her head, “sorry, not her shift tonight.”

“Oh,” Regina said. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find her, do you? She left her phone on the table when we were having lunch and she probably needs it..”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, of course, well she’s up at Façade tonight. She should be there now, setting up..”

Regina smiled, happy that her ruse had worked, “wonderful! I’m new in town, where is Façade?”

The brunette thumbed a direction, “straight down the street, just beyond Jack’s Lobster Bar.”

“Thank you so much,” Regina smiled and quickly left the bar. She heard the brunette call after her but pretended not to hear her as she rushed along the street.

She was going to go to Façade, whatever that was, and tell Emma in no uncertain terms that her sexuality was not in question and that she was most definitely straight. Of course she’d apologise for the drunken kiss but that was all it was. 

Regina was so busy mentally preparing her speech that when the fluorescent sign for Façade came into view she didn’t give it a second thought and walked straight into the building.

She passed a couple of women and entered what looked like a nightclub of some description. A large bar area took up the middle of the room and around the large and dimly lit room were tables and chairs as well as plush sofas and arm chairs. Two large stages were well lit up and Regina wondered if live jazz was played of an evening. She considered that maybe she would hang around for a while and listen as she was beginning to enjoy the style of New Orleans jazz.

Regina walked over to the bar and nodded at a young woman cleaning some glasses, “hello, is Emma here?”

The woman frowned at her, “well, yeah, she’s probably getting ready.”

Regina wanted to roll her eyes but decided against it, “could you get her? I need to speak to her, it’s quite urgent.”

The young woman sighed and put down the glass and the cloth and walked out of the bar area and across the room. Regina shook her head and wondered what the attitude was about and how much getting ready time Emma actually needed to pour a few drinks.

Regina sat on a bar stool on the corner of the bar and started to look around the bar at the enormous range of drinks on offer and wondered how anyone in New Orleans managed to get anything done. She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of someone pulling out the bar stool beside her and sitting down.

“Decided to get here early and get the good seats, huh? I like that.”

Regina turned to regard the woman beside her, she was a large lady in her early forties with short spikey hair and tattoos.

“Yes,” Regina nodded, unsure of what to say.

“Well, you picked a good night for it, I hear the show tonight is going to be amazing! I’m Echo, by the way.”

Regina took the woman’s offered hand, “Regina. Echo is an interesting name, is that a nickname?”

“Well, kinda,” Echo snorted a laugh. “But I can only tell you about that when we’ve shared a vodka slammer.”

Regina smiled, Echo seemed to be yet another of the larger-than-life characters that she was meeting on her trip.

“I’ve never had a vodka slammer but it sounds like fun.”

Echo looked at Regina with a smile, “you’re not from around here are you?”

Regina shook her head, “no, just visiting.”

“Well, if you need anyone to show you around town, I’m your woman,” Echo chuckled.

“That’s very kind,” Regina smiled.

“Er, Regina?”

Regina turned around to see a very confused looking Emma frowning at her and looking from Regina to Echo.

“Oh, Emma,” Regina smiled. She turned back to Echo, “excuse me a moment.”

Regina lowered herself from the barstool and gestured for Emma to follow her out of earshot from her new friend.

“What are you doing here? And why are you talking to Echo?” Emma hissed as soon as they were far enough away.

Regina was taken aback by Emma’s attitude and blinked before replying, “I’m sorry?”

“Why are you here?” Emma demanded.

“Well, I had come to apologise but I don’t know if I want to anymore!” Regina argued.

“What?” Emma frowned in confusion.

“I came to apologise,” Regina repeated. “For the kiss,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Emma blinked in confusion. 

“I wanted to explain that I didn’t mean to give you mixed signals but I was very tired, and emotional. I’d had too much to drink and I was.. well, I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m not gay.”

Emma snorted a laugh.

“Is something funny?” Regina demanded.

“No, nothing at all,” Emma shook her head but was still smiling.

“You think something is amusing,” Regina pointed out. “You know, I don’t know if you’ve had a bad day but you need an attitude adjustment.”

“What?!” Emma cried.

“You heard me,” Regina folded her arms and looked at Emma haughtily.

“What did I do?!” Emma questioned.

“Demanding to know why I am here as if I’m not allowed in some.. music.. bar.. place!” Regina nodded. “And asking me why I’m talking to my new friend.”

“New friend?” Emma folded her arms and laughed softly. “Okay.”

“I think that kiss.. that drunken kiss, I might add, went to your head. And you think you own me or something!” Regina barked a laugh.

Emma held up her hands, “you know what, Regina. Fine. I apologise for my behaviour. I was wrong, you were right. Clearly, you are not gay and I understand that the kiss was just a mistake.”

Regina hesitated and nodded her head, “well.. yes.. thank you.”

“Now,” Emma smiled, “you go and spend some time with your new friend.”

Regina frowned at Emma’s smile and nodded her head, “fine, I will.”

“Fine,” Emma repeated and laughed to herself as she turned and left the woman to it.

Regina frowned and let out a sigh before turning around and returned to her seat beside Echo.

“Problem?” Echo frowned.

“No,” Regina shook her head. “She was being possessive but I put her in her place.”

Echo smiled and nodded, “good on you! So, are you and her?”

Regina balked, “me and Emma? No, no, nothing there at all.”

Echo nodded and grinned, “Regina, can I buy you a drink?”

Regina nodded, “you know what, that sounds like just what I need.”

* * *

An hour later and the bar was filling up but Regina didn’t notice as she was deep in conversation with Echo. The woman was absolutely fascinating, she had lived in many countries around the world, drifted from job to job and always seemed to land on her feet. It might have been the alcohol but Regina found herself hanging on every word, no matter how unlikely the story seemed to be.

“So, you seen the show before?” Echo asked as she leaned forward and looked at one of the stages with interest.

“No,” Regina shook her head.

“Ah, you’re in for a treat,” Echo said with a grin. “It starts in a couple of minutes.”

“Oh,” Regina turned around to look at the stage and frowned as she noticed that there were no musicians and no instruments. Regina’s eyes began to take in the rest of the room and she suddenly realised that the entire audience consisted of women. She looked around several times but there was not a single man in sight.

She was about to ask Echo about it when suddenly the lights in the bar dimmed and music began blaring through wall-mounted speakers. Regina looked around the room nervously as the women began to applaud and wolf-whistle and suddenly a spotlight appeared on the stage.

Regina felt her mouth go dry when Emma stepped out onto the stage in a tight red floor-length dress with slits up each leg to her hips. The crowd roared with excitement as Emma winked and blew kisses into the crowd.

Echo applauded loudly as she leaned towards Regina, “man, I love burlesque, don’t you?”


	9. Chapter 9

Regina was jolted from her staring stupor by the sound of rambunctious applause and Echo slapping her on the back.

“Damn! What a show!”

Regina swallowed and nodded and she watched Emma saunter from the stage while taking lengthy bows as she smiled and laughed with the crowd.

Time had stood still for Regina and in whatever amount of time had passed during the show she had been unable to move, unable to think and unable to stop staring at the scene before her. 

She had watched as Emma danced, swivelled, teased and undressed. Regina had never seen a burlesque show before and if she was forced to describe it she would say it was naughty yet classy. And it had definitely had an effect on her, there was no way she could deny otherwise.

Emma hadn’t looked in her direction once and Regina was relieved because if Emma had she was sure she would have had to run out of the bar. Regina had to hand it to herself, she had managed to track down Emma to inform her that she was not gay and in doing so she had walked into a lesbian burlesque bar. She shook her head at her lack of luck.

“Man,” Echo said as she turned around to face the bar and ordered two more drinks for them. “That was awesome. You tapped that?”

Regina continued to stare at the now-empty stage and Echo turned to look at her, “hey, earth to Regina?”

Regina turned and looked at Echo, “oh, sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?”

Echo smiled, “I asked if you’ve tapped that?”

Regina recoiled, “no! Absolutely not!”

Echo chuckled and held up her hands, “it’s okay, I’m not the jealous type. I know how to share my toys.”

The waitress placed two drinks on the bar and Echo handed over a bill and Regina stared at the back of the woman’s head in horror. She snapped her head back to look at the stage as she replayed her actions since she had entered the bar.

She had accepted many drinks from the woman, they’d chatted, she’d laughed. Regina swallowed. Echo had flirted with her, Regina hadn’t noticed before but now it was very clear.

“Anyway, after this I was wondering if you wanted to go on to Shady’s? It’s not as classy as it is here but there the girls take it all off, not just down to skimpy undies like they do here.”

Regina could feel herself hyperventilating, the number of people in the room combined with the struggling air condition units had caused the heat to rise. Add into the equation Emma’s sensual moves and the fact that she was now somehow involved with Echo and Regina could feel the room begin to sway.

“Unless you want to go back to mine?” Echo suggested. “We could crack open a couple of beers and I can give you a hands-on demonstration on why they call me echo.”

That was the final straw for Regina and the room suddenly went black.

* * *

Emma sat in her light blue silky kimono and ate potato chips from a large bag on the dressing table in front of her. The air conditioning unit in her small dressing room was silently blowing out ice-cold air and Emma watched the rise and fall of Regina’s chest, strictly for medical reasons.

Five minutes earlier a quick knock at her door had seen a couple of the bar staff inform her that they’d had a ‘fainter’ in the bar. It wasn’t uncommon that the heat or the excitement during some of the racier shows would get to one of the audience.

As the dressing room was one of the few places where there was a door, a sofa and reliable air conditioning it ended up being the go-to place for any casualties. 

Emma had been surprised when an unconscious Regina had been carried in by one of the male bouncers but after a quick assessment she decided that the brunette was simply overheated and exhausted. 

Echo had attempted to enter the room but Emma had quickly seen her off and the woman returned to the bar in order to find another pick-up for the evening.

Regina began to shift and Emma raised an eyebrow as brown eyes opened and started to look around the room. As they focused on Emma they looked terrified and Emma smiled.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Regina replied softly. “What.. what happened?”

“You fainted,” Emma said as she picked up a glass of cold water from the dressing table and handed it to Regina without standing up.

Regina gratefully took the glass and eagerly drank down some of the cold, clear liquid and looked nervously around the room.

She had barely finished drinking when she asked, “where’s Echo?”

“Your girlfriend? She’s just gone to get you a taxi,” Emma said seriously but had to laugh when Regina looked at her in panic.

“I’m kidding, she’s gone.”

“Oh, thank God,” Regina sighed in relief.

“Remind me,” Emma drawled. “You originally came here to tell me that you’re not gay, right? Before you got yourself a girlfriend and watched my burlesque show at one of the most popular lesbian bars in the city. Right?”

Regina looked up at Emma with an exasperated expression.

“It was all a misunderstanding.”

“You seem pretty good at them,” Emma commented as she stood up and walked behind a dressing screen.

After a few silent moments Regina finally spoke again, “the.. show was amazing.”

“Thank you,” Emma said succinctly, not wishing to be drawn into any further conversation.

“I’ve never seen burlesque before.”

“I didn’t think you would have.”

“What made you get into it?” 

Emma sighed as she started to strip out on her stage outfit behind the dressing screen. She’d had a lot of time to think about Regina’s yo-yoing sexuality and even though she found Regina extremely attractive, she had decided to keep her distance. The last thing she needed was to get her heart broken by someone who hadn’t got their act together.

“A couple of years after I came to New Orleans I saw a show, there are a lot of competitions in the city when it comes to burlesque,” Emma explained. “I’d always been interested in dance and performing and I decided to go to a class, just for me, you know?”

Emma pulled on a pair of skinny denim shorts and chuckled, “my teacher said I was good at it, she wanted me to go on a talent night. It was the seediest place ever and I hated every second of it, men were whistling and leering and throwing money at me. I felt like a stripper and that wasn’t what I was there for. Burlesque is an art form.”

Emma put a white tank top on and walked out from the dressing screen and back towards her dressing table.

“I met a woman who worked here at Façade, she asked me to come down and interview. I do one show a week and I do it because I enjoy it, it’s a nice set up here.”

Regina nodded her understanding.

“And.. I’m sorry I was short with you earlier,” Emma continued. “It’s just I knew you had no idea Façade was a gay bar and Echo, well, she likes to collect fresh babydykes and I wanted to warn you.”

Regina chuckled, “and then I pissed you off and you threw me to the wolves?”

Emma smiled, “yep, pretty much.”

Regina smiled and took another long gulp of water.

“Are you feeling better? Can I get you more water?” Emma asked.

“I’m well,” Regina nodded. “Just a little overheated and.. well.. it doesn’t matter now..”

“Go on,” Emma gently pressed.

Regina looked at her nervously and seemed to mentally way up her options before finally whispering, “I think I’m.. confused.”

“Confused?” Emma frowned. 

“Yes, confused,” Regina nodded. “I’ve seen a lot of things since I came to this city and.. well, tonight was an eye opener.”

Emma suddenly understood what she meant, “ah, confused. What’s so bad about feeling confused?”

“I’m straight,” Regina explained. “I’ve always been straight, I have never ever looked at a woman in.. that way. But now I’m.. well, I’m seeing things and feeling things I haven’t felt before.”

Emma held her breath for a second as she wondered what to do next. After Regina’s drunken kiss she had stayed awake all night and decided that avoidance was the best strategy. She had previously met women visiting New Orleans who were curious and wanted someone to explore with and on a couple of occasions Emma participated in their experiments.

Each had ended disastrously for Emma where the women went back home to their husbands or boyfriends having managed to scratch the itch while on vacation. Emma couldn’t stand to have her heart broken again.

“Look, Regina,” Emma started and looked down at the floor as she chose her words carefully. “I.. I have feelings for you. You must know that. You’re smart, funny and,” Emma looked up and sighed, “breathtakingly beautiful. But I can’t be your experimental toy. I just can’t.”

Regina blushed bright red and broke eye contact, “I’m not asking you to be..”

“I think you are, or at least I think you eventually will,” Emma admitted quietly. “I’ve been here before, straight woman comes to The Big Easy and sees the other side of the coin. Wants to experiment. Then they go home, back to their life. But I’m left here.”

“I..” Regina started. “You kissed me, after the tram..”

“Streetcar,” Emma correctly softly.

“After the streetcar, you kissed me. You started all of this,” Regina pointed out.

“I know and I apologised,” Emma said. “I shouldn’t have kissed you but I thought you were flirting with me.”

“Maybe I was,” Regina sighed as she put her head in her hands. “I just don’t know any more.”

Emma swallowed hard, “I.. you.. you’re just tired and emotional. Like you said to me earlier.” 

“I suppose,” Regina muttered as she looked up again.

Emma took a deep breath, “and.. and I think it would be best if we avoid each other.”

Regina paused for a moment before she nodded her head in sad agreement, “agreed. I’m sorry.. I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Its fine, I appreciate you coming to apologise. And hey, now you know you like burlesque,” Emma smiled. “Another thing that New Orleans has made you realise that you like.”

Regina put the empty glass on the dressing table and stood up and looked nervously at the door.

“Do I want to know how Echo got her nickname?”

Emma laughed, “probably not.”

Regina nodded, “is there another way out of here? I’m not sure I want to see her again..”

Emma smiled, “sure, I’ll walk you through to the fire exit.”

Regina smiled gratefully at the blonde and waited as Emma grabbed her bags. They both left the dressing room and Emma said goodbye to a couple of members of staff who were in the small hallway outside and they headed towards the fire exit.

As Emma pushed the door she paused, “you know, if.. if you are curious then Façade is a good place to hang out. It’s a bit more upmarket than some of the other bars, if you don’t include Echo.”

Regina shook her head nervously, “I.. I don’t think I’ll come back.”

Emma pushed the door open and led Regina out into the empty alleyway next to the bar. 

“If you are curious then you should probably explore it,” Emma said kindly. “The person we end up with is an important factor in our lives. If you are maybe gay, or bi, then you’re opening up your possibilities of finding your true love.”

Regina chuckled lightly, “true love?”

“Yeah,” Emma smiled. “Don’t you believe in true love?”

“No,” Regina said quickly. “I think that’s just a fairy tale our parents tell us to protect us from how lonely the world can be. Something to keep people occupied, millions of people seeking out their true love to prevent them from actually seeing how dire their life is. The concept of true love is just a distraction.”

Emma stopped walking and blinked at Regina in shock.

“Wow.”

“What?” Regina frowned.

“That’s some heavy shit right there,” Emma chuckled. “But seriously, have you ever been in love?”

“Of course I have,” Regina shrugged. “I just don’t think it’s this all-encompassing dream state that we’re led to believe it is.”

“I take it back,” Emma said.

“Take what back?”

“Don’t explore your curiosity. Don’t go bringing that doom and gloom attitude into the lesbian community,” Emma laughed. 

Regina gently slapped the back of Emma’s arm, “hey,” she smiled.

They continued to slowly walk up and the alleyway and Regina regarded Emma, “so you believe in true love?”

“Yep,” Emma smiled. “I think that there is someone, the perfect someone, out there for everyone. And you know what else?”

“What else?” Regina smiled.

“I also believe in fate,” Emma confessed. “So, I also believe that fate will push you towards your true love if you let it. I suppose you think that’s silly, right?”

“Yes,” Regina said simply. “But I sometimes wish I could believe in that kind of thing too.”

“Too much of a realist, huh?” Emma asked.

Regina nodded, “yes, something like that.”

They approached the end of the alleyway and could see the partying scenes of Bourbon Street up ahead and slowed to a stop.

Regina sighed, “thank you, for.. everything. I’m sorry I’ve been a constant source of trouble for you.”

Emma chuckled, “it’s been fun. I’m glad I met you, Regina. And I really hope you enjoy the rest of your time in New Orleans. As I said when we first met, there’s something for everyone if you just go out and look for it.”

Regina looked at the blonde, a depth in her brown eyes that Emma hadn’t noticed before and she wondered briefly if she was doing the right thing. But she knew that down that road led heartbreak and Emma had had her fair share of that over the last few years.

“Goodnight, Emma,” Regina said with a bright smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes.

With a nod they both exited the alleyway and walked in opposite directions.


	10. Chapter 10

Regina stayed awake most of Thursday evening thinking about what had transpired at Façade. After a few hours she decided to make use of the twenty-four hour gym which was situated on the top floor of the hotel.

As she jogged on the treadmill she looked out of large windows at the city of New Orleans. She had to admit that the city was beautiful by night, twinkling lights from the parties and the relative calm of the Mississippi in the distance.

Despite her initial misgivings about the city she was finding more and more that she liked about it, not that she would admit that to Zelena when she finally went home.

Regina felt a familiar clenching at her chest, it was the same just after her father had passed. After the accident. But this time it was for a different form of grief, this time it was about a different kind of loss.

She had no idea if it was the fact she was on vacation, the alcohol, the grief swirling through her mind or even the heat but something was taking over her thought processes. Regina had never even looked at another women in a sexual way but now she seemingly couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

At first she had thought that it was the burlesque show, the whole art of burlesque was of course tantalising and somehow forbidden so any reasonable person would find it stimulating. But after a while she couldn’t kid herself anymore as she knew she had already had thoughts of that nature about Emma specifically.

It wasn’t the burlesque show, it was the performer. It was Emma. Emma who, quite rightly, didn’t want to be involved in Regina’s back and forth sexuality dilemma. 

Of course in some ways it hurt but in others Regina could understand, she wasn’t sure herself what her feelings were so how could she possibly ask Emma to join her for a journey into the unknown. Especially when Emma had admitted she had feelings for Regina.

That thought in particular kept running around Regina’s head as she moved from the treadmill to the water cooler and took several long gulps of cold water. 

The simple fact of the matter was that Regina just didn’t know what was going on with her and she knew better than to pull someone else into something she didn’t understand. Especially someone as nice as Emma.

Regina even doubted that it was wise to investigate the feelings at all while on vacation. She decided that she would spend her days sightseeing and her evenings would be spent in the hotel restaurant dining followed by an early night. She didn’t want to run the risk of bumping into Emma again.

Regina returned to her room and had a long, lukewarm shower before turning in for the night. But as she lay in bed her brain still replayed the evening and the steamboat, the parade, the bar, the dinner, the cemetery. Every conversation she’d had with Emma kept playing over and over again in her mind. 

Eventually it was five in the morning when Regina finally managed to get to sleep and even then Emma was present in her dreams.

* * * 

On Friday morning Regina approached the friendly-looking concierge who she had so far avoided.

“Good morning,” the young man smiled up at her from his desk. “How can I help you today?”

“I’d like to go and see something, maybe something not in the French Quarter?”

Regina had decided that every job she had seen Emma at had originated in the French Quarter so her best bet to avoid the blonde was to avoid the whole area.

“Sure,” the concierge smiled, “do you have anything particular in mind?”

“No, something.. touristy.”

“Okay,” the concierge kept his smile but was clearly a little flustered with the lack of information Regina had given him.

He brought out a few leaflets and Regina picked one up, “where’s the zoo?”

“Audubon Zoo is Uptown.”

Regina glared at the young man for a moment.

“Er, not the French Quarter,” he clarified.

“Wonderful, thank you,” Regina said as she placed the leaflet back on the table and walked through the lobby towards the front door.

As always she took a deep breath of air conditioned air and braced herself for the wall of heat that would be on the other side of the hotel’s main doors.

Outside she asked the doorman to hail her a cab and a few moments later she was on her way to the zoo.

As with everyone else in New Orleans, the cab driver was talkative. Excessively so.

“So, you like animals?”

“Does anyone actually not like animals?” Regina questioned.

“Some folks,” the driver replied. “But as you’re going to the zoo I’m gonna assume you like animals.”

Regina let out a breath and controlled a small roll of her eyes and looked out of the window.

“Which is your favourite?”

“I’m sorry?” Regina asked.

“Your favourite animal,” the driver asked again.

“Oh, I don’t know. Monkeys I suppose,” Regina said distractedly while she pretended to focus on something very interesting through the window.

“I like giraffes.”

“I hate giraffes,” Regina said without thinking.

“Why do you hate giraffes?” 

Regina looked at the man’s eyes in the rear-view mirror, “they are cocky.”

“Cocky?” 

“Yes,” Regina nodded. “And gangly and strange.”

“They have purple tongues,” the driver said.

“They what?” Regina asked in disgust.

“Purple tongues, to prevent sunburn,” he replied.

Regina shuddered, “I hate giraffes.”

The driver clearly decided to give up and the rest of the journey was made in silence.

* * * 

Regina had spent three hours strolling around the well-kept zoo and taking in shows and talks about a variety of animals. Often she wondered what on earth she was doing at a zoo of all places, she hadn’t been to a zoo since she was a little girl.

Now she was at a zoo listening to talks about white tigers and listening to children plead with their parents to let them feed the giraffes.

Of course Regina knew why she was at the zoo, it was to avoid Emma. Not that she could be one hundred percent certain that Emma wasn’t a lion tamer or ice cream vendor. Which had meant that Regina had spent most of the three hours staring at every staff member to be absolutely sure that they weren’t a certain blonde.

It was a hot day and the crowds were annoying to Regina and she slowly started to walk away from the large groups and found herself walking around empty-looking enclosures.

An empty bench in front of a large enclosure looked very appealing in the hot sun and she took a sip of water from the bottle she had bought earlier. 

She closed her eyes for a few moments to get her breath back and when she opened them again she jumped in surprise. 

An elephant was stood in front of her in the enclosure and looking at her with large, kind eyes.

Regina found herself absolutely captivated and looked around to check that no one was able to see her before she stood up.

“Hello,” she said with a smile.

The elephant waved its trunk a little and Regina smiled as she walked closer to the edge of the enclosure and put her hands on the stony wall.

Regina looked at the magnificent animal and took a deep breath as she tried to take in how large and powerful the creature was. The thing that really shocked Regina was the eyes, they were so deep and full of life and seemingly full of understanding.

After what seemed like an eternity another elephant walked towards the one who was watching Regina. The elephants turned to face each other and both simultaneously raised their trunks and intertwined them.

Regina noticed a zoo keeper walking along the path and he turned to regard the elephants and then looked at Regina with a smile.

“Hey,” he greeted Regina.

“Hello,” Regina said breathlessly, still in awe of the enormous creatures.

“They are amazing, aren’t they?” The keeper said in understanding.

“Yes, they absolutely are,” Regina said with a smile.

She watched the two elephants as they continued to show affection to each other.

“Are these two together?” Regina asked.

“Elephants have multiple relationships,” the keeper explained. “But, yes, these two ladies certainly spend most of their time together.”

“Oh,” Regina blinked, “they’re both female?”

“Yep,” the keeper replied, clearly used to awkward discussions about animal mating behaviours. “Same-sex mating behaviour is common with elephants. They spend nearly as much time in same-sex relationships as they do in heterosexual relationships.”

“Oh,” Regina said, at a loss for what to say as she watched the elephants continue to intertwine trunks and gently bump heads.

“Suppose they don’t overly think about things like us humans,” the keeper smiled. “Just keeping it simple.”

“Yes,” Regina nodded. “And good for them.”

Regina spent the next couple of hours watching the animals with fascination and noticed that many of them seemed to be in same-sex relationships. She partly wondered if that was down to the zoo environment and that they had been forced into relationships in order to satisfy needs for comfort and beyond.

A stray thought that if Regina were locked up in prison then even Echo might seem appealing to her sent a shiver through her body.

That night Regina returned to the hotel and ate alone at the hotel restaurant before heading up to the gym. She watched the sunset over the city while walking slowly on the treadmill by the window. 

It seemed as if the city came to life, as if as the sun slowly dipped down in the distance the lights came on and the people of New Orleans came out to play. She could hear the distant sound of music and people partying and she realised it was Friday night, Friday night in New Orleans. 

She smiled and wondered where Emma was and what she was doing. Probably working though Regina had no idea where, Emma was still a mystery to her in so many ways.

After a while Regina returned to her room and showered and sat in bed with the remote control poised in her hand. She didn’t usually have time to watch much television but she noticed that the hotel directory boasted fifty channels.

After a while Regina had raced through all fifty channels and was back at the start. She realised she needed to lower her expectations and started to flip between different channels, attempting to avoid the advertisements. 

She saw an episode of the L Word flash up and quickly changed the channel and on the screen appeared an elephant. Regina frowned and a couple of seconds later the sound caught up to her channel hopping and she realised it was an advertisement for the zoo. 

Regina shook her head in disbelief and looked up at the ceiling, “is this supposed to be fate? Are you trying to tell me something?”

* * *

Monday night came around and Regina had had enough of the hotel restaurant and nights watching television in her room. She had spent the weekend bugging the concierge about trips further and further out of the city and had been on a swamp tour and even ridden a donkey.

She couldn’t exactly say she’d enjoyed it but it had taken her mind off of her Emma predicament and it also meant that she was away from potentially bumping into the girl.

But Monday had been boring. The concierge didn’t know what else to offer as everything of interest to her was in the French Quarter. Eventually Regina had elected to go shopping in the new mall on the riverfront and during her spending spree realised that she couldn’t hide forever.

She had another week in New Orleans and she couldn’t spend it hiding from the French Quarter and a certain blonde who lived and worked within it. During Regina’s chats with the concierge she had noticed a number of things she was actually interested in seeing and decided that four days was enough to stay away.

With a restaurant tip from the concierge she headed out for some local cuisine at a small place in Frenchmen Street. The restaurant was tiny and only held about twelve tables, the window looked out onto the bustling street and Regina watched the tourists and locals from her table.

As she looked over the menu to decide what to order she heard a knocking on the glass and looked up to see Echo smiling back at her. Regina balked and gave what she hoped was a sincere smile and a moment later Echo entered the restaurant.

Regina’s heart was pounding as the woman came and sat heavily on the seat opposite her and smiled at her.

“I was hoping I’d bump into you again,” Echo said as she looked at Regina appreciatively.

“Here I am,” Regina said with a smile, at a loss for much else to say.

“Are you meeting someone?” Echo asked.

Regina knew she couldn’t lie as the waiter had already set the table for only one diner.

“No, just me.”

“Well, I can’t have a pretty woman like you eating alone,” Echo winked dramatically and then let out a big laugh as she waved the waiter over.

Regina shifted uncomfortably but there was nothing she could do and before long they had both ordered a meal and they seemed to be on some kind of a date.

Echo kept the conversation going by telling Regina about the crazy hijinks she had been up to over the weekend and women she had met and the bars she had frequented. Regina kept quiet because she was sure seeing the lesbian elephants and riding a donkey wasn’t going to cut the mustard with Echo.

It was over the main course when Echo suddenly dropped the bomb on Regina.

“So, you’re still figuring it all out, aren’t ya?”

Regina nearly choked on her chicken as she looked at Echo with a confused and panicked look.

“Sorry?”

“The gay thing,” Echo said as she noisily slurped her beer. “You’re not sure, I could see it in your eyes at Façade. You’re curious but you just don’t know.”

Regina swallowed hard, “something like that.”

Echo nodded knowingly, “you like the dancer don’t ya? Emma.”

Regina could feel the blush rising up her cheeks and she knew lying would be impossible.

“I don’t know, I think so.”

“Ah,” Echo laughed. “You really are having trouble figuring it all out.”

“So, how far along are we?” Echo laced her fingers together and rested her head on them. “Any lesbian touching, kissing? I can tell there’s been no sex yet.”

Regina could actually feel the heat from her cheeks and opened and closed her mouth but nothing came out.

“Oh, wow,” Echo shook her head with a smile. “We’re very early stages.”

“I’m really not comfortable discussing this,” Regina tried.

Echo ignored her, “so, let me guess. You’re straight, completely straight, never been with a woman, never even looked at a woman. But now, suddenly,” Echo placed her open palms on her cheeks and looked shocked, “you wonder if you like girls. Am I right?”

“N-no,” Regina stuttered and lowered her cutlery and took a few gulps of water.

“Come on,” Echo laughed as she drank some more of her beer, “I saw the way you looked at Emma on that stage. That wasn’t just someone who was appreciating the artistic tones of a good burlesque show. That was someone who wanted more.”

Regina placed the water glass down on the table and Echo looked at her for a few moments.

“You just don’t know, do you?” Echo asked.

“Know what?” Regina questioned.

“If you’re sexually interested in women,” Echo supplied. “You think you are.. but you’re not quite sure.”

“I.. I..” Regina stuttered.

Echo turned around to face the waiter and shouted for the bill and turned back to face Regina.

“You’re not going to eat that, are you?” Echo asked but she had already stabbed the left over chicken with her fork before she finished the question.

“Why did you ask for the check?” Regina looked confused.

“Because you and I are going to hit some of New Orleans finest establishments and we’re going to solve your conundrum for you,” Echo explained.

Regina had many questions but the first one to her lips was, “why?”

Echo shrugged as she threw down some dollar bills on a silver dish that the waiter had laid on the table.

“I need a new toaster oven, come on, let’s get out of here,” Echo smiled.

Regina didn’t quite know why she was agreeing to the madness but she did and soon found herself hurrying after Echo and standing on Frenchmen Street.

“I don’t understand,” Regina said.

“I know,” Echo nodded, “that’s why we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?” Regina pressed.

Echo smiled at Regina, “think of it as a scientific experiment. You’re not sure if you like women or not. You probably have questions and the best place deal with all of this is Heels.”

“Heels?” Regina looked at Echo with a raised eyebrow.

Echo put her arm over Regina’s shoulder, “it sounds worse than it is, but you and me are going to work out your sexuality and to do that we need some booze and some dancers. Trust me.”

Regina couldn’t say why but she did trust Echo so she gave the woman a vague nod of her head. After all Regina really did need answers and she figured that Echo would be more help than the bi-sexual elephants.


	11. Chapter 11

As Echo started to enter the seedy-looking club, Regina grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards the bustling street. 

“Emma doesn’t work here, does she?” Regina asked as she tilted her head towards the neon flashing sign.

Echo laughed loudly and pretended to look shocked, “no! Of course not, this is a dive. Your girl is too classy for here.”

“She’s not my girl,” Regina blushed furiously and looked around to ensure no one had overheard the statement.

Echo held up her hands, “okay, okay, not your girl, got it.”

They entered the club and Regina immediately winced at the décor and the patrons and looked at Echo accusingly, “there are men in here.”

Echo nodded, “yes, unfortunately there are. But as a gay woman you have to learn that you are in a minority.”

Echo nudged Regina with her elbow and winked, “which sometimes means you have to share your toys.”

Regina balked at the inference but allowed herself to be led to a booth in the corner of the bar. She looked at the leather bench for a couple of seconds before throwing caution to the wind and sitting down opposite Echo.

“So, what’s the plan?” Regina asked as she examined the table which wasn’t as clean as she’d like.

“Drinks,” Echo announced as she half-stood to get the attention of a waitress.

Regina looked seriously at Echo, “I don’t want to get drunk.”

Echo nodded, “no, you don’t. But a little liquid courage to remove that hetero-filter is going to be essential.”

Regina nodded her agreement and sighed as a waitress in a tight and skimpy outfit approached the table.

“Hey y’all.”

“Well, hey yourself,” Echo smiled and appreciated the bare midriff on display.

“White wine,” Regina said quickly to get rid of the waitress so she didn’t have to watch Echo’s leering any longer than strictly necessary.

The waitress looked a little surprised at the order but nodded regardless and looked at Echo who ordered a beer. Once the waitress left Echo leaned out of the booth and watched her walking away and Regina rolled her eyes.

“Is that necessary?” Regina sighed.

“What? I’m not getting any tonight, the least I can do is look,” Echo shrugged.

Regina found herself relieved at the statement and silently thanked the heavens that Echo hadn’t planned to get her drunk and attempt to seduce her. Although Regina mused that she would have to be paralytic with drink before she agreed to anything sexual with Echo. The woman was certainly an experience and was nice enough but she certainly wasn’t Regina’s type. Regina frowned at the thought as she wondered what her type was.

“What’s with the frown?” Echo asked.

“Nothing,” Regina quickly covered.

Echo smiled, “look, if you want to get anything out of tonight then you’re going to have to start opening up.”

Regina thought for a moment before nodding towards the waitress, “you find her attractive?”

Echo grinned mischievously, “yeah, but I take it you don’t?” 

Regina shook her head, “she seems a nice girl but, no, I don’t see her.. that way. Should I?”

Echo smiled, “aww, the confused mind of a baby dyke springing to life. Look, darling, do you find all men attractive?”

Regina shook her head, “of course not, no.”

“Exactly, so if a muscular man was walking down Bourbon showing off everything he had to offer would you be thinking you’d want you a slice of that?”

Regina shook her head as she blushed, “no.”

“Precisely,” Echo’s eyes lit up as the drinks arrived and thanked the waitress.

After a long slurp of beer she sighed and rested her hands on the table as if she were a news reader about to deliver an important breaking news alert. 

“There is much discussion about lesbian types and categorisations,” Echo began. “Some say there are just five main types of lesbian, butch, lipstick, alpha, athletic and boy babe.”

Regina blinked and decided to keep silent on the fact she thought there were only two types.

“But,” Echo said with a considered paused, “I don’t necessarily subscribe to that. Yeah, you can find all of those types of lesbian but I think there are more categories out there. You’ll hear terms like dyke, power dyke, diesel dyke, butch, stone butch, gold star, lone star, chapstick, femme, pillow queen, blue jeans, stud, stem, futch, boi..”

Echo stopped as she saw the confused expression crossing over Regina’s face.

“Thing is, I personally think that those categorisations are off-putting to newly uncloseted members of our group. They wonder what they are, if they need to get some kind of badge, can they overlap two? Can they be a power dyke during the week and a pillow queen at the weekend?”

Regina took a large swig of her wine, accepting that Echo had been entirely correct that she would need a drink for this conversation.

“You don’t get the straights categorising themselves like we do. Even the gays have less terms than us,” Echo laughed. “So, I believe in this, we’re all individuals. Yeah, we may fit into stereotypical groups. I’d be considered butch, but does that define me? Does that mean I can’t enjoy a little lipgloss now and then? No.”

Regina nodded, not necessarily understanding entirely but it was better than just staring in silence.

“The only common thing that connects us is loving ladies. And that doesn’t mean anything with a pulse, tits and a..” Echo paused as she saw Regina’s eyebrows lift almost off of her face. “Sorry, you catch my drift. What I’m trying to say is, humans don’t fit into neat little descriptions and neither should lesbians.”

Regina considered this and nodded her agreement before drinking some more wine. It tasted like acid but she wasn’t at an upmarket wine bar enjoying the latest import from New Zealand, she was in a seedy bar and had lowered her expectations.

“So,” Echo paused and Regina knew it was going to be a personal question. “When did you first look at a woman as something other than a potential manicure buddy?”

Regina blushed wildly and swallowed down the enormous amount of saliva that had suddenly filled her mouth.

Echo drank some of her beer and waited patiently.

“Emma kissed me,” Regina admitted quietly.

“Damn girl,” Echo smiled and leaned back and placed her arms along the back of the booth seat.

“I pushed her away,” Regina admitted, “I.. I had no idea she was gay. Or that she thought I was flirting with her.”

“I see,” Echo nodded. “But then?”

Regina let out a deep breath, “but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

Echo nodded but made no move to speak and Regina knew she was waiting for more.

“I kissed her.”

Echo’s eyes flew wide open and she stared at Regina silently.

“I was drunk,” Regina explained.

“Of course,” Echo smiled. “Because you’re straight and why would you kiss a woman when you were sober?”

Regina winced and nodded, “I wanted to but.. I.. I don’t know. Anyway, she said I was drunk and she pushed me away.”

“And then?”

“And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. About her.”

Echo nodded and leaned forward, “thinking about the kiss, thinking about more?”

“More.”

“More like kissing and cuddling or more like.. more?”

“More,” Regina blushed.

“More like..”

“Do we have to do this?” Regina asked.

“I’m afraid we do,” Echo said with a mock serious tone which was outweighed by a hint of humour. “What I’m trying to find out is, do you want a roll on the hay or do you want to be baking cookies for your brood of children?”

Regina nearly choked on her wine in surprise and Echo laughed at her reaction. Some commotion was heard by a large stage and people were moving to seats in front of it.

“Hold that thought, the show is about to start,” Echo said with a nod towards the stage.

“What show?” Regina questioned.

“Well, it ain’t burlesque,” Echo chuckled.

Before Regina had a chance to say anything else music started pumping through speakers and lights lit up the stage. Which Regina belatedly noticed had silver poles on it. With a sinking feeling Regina realised she was in a strip club and wondered how she kept getting herself into these situations. Her mother would kill her if she knew how she had spent her time in New Orleans.

Young, lithe girls started appearing on the stage in the skimpiest of outfits and Regina blushed and turned away to examine the sticky cocktail menu on the table. Echo looked over at her with a smirk and then went back to looking at and enjoying the show. After a few minutes Regina started to watch the show again and Echo leaned over and pointed to the stage, “you like her?”

“Which one?” Regina blushed so hotly she wondered if she was the one creating the red glow on the stage.

“The one in red,” Echo said with a dreamy smile.

Regina shook her head, “she’s a nice girl I’m sure but..”

“Yeah, yeah,” Echo waved her hand, “what about the natural blonde? Are blondes your thing?”

Regina looked at the blonde for a few moments and found she was appreciating the toned body and the long blonde hair but something was missing. With a jolt she realised that she didn’t feel anything because she wasn’t Emma. 

“Regina? Hello?” Echo tried again.

The revelation hit Regina hard. 

“I don’t think I want to be here any longer,” Regina said simply.

Echo regarded the brunette with a nod, “then let’s get out of here.”

Regina threw down some money on the table and rolled her eyes when it promptly stuck to the surface and the two of them exited the bar. Even in the evening the heat was present and not helped by the bustling crowds making their way around Frenchmen Street. Echo pulled Regina towards the edge of the sidewalk so they could talk without being jostled by anyone. 

A small jazz group had formed on the other side of the road and Echo watched them and tapped her foot to the beat before looking at Regina.

“Wanna tell me what revelation you just had?” 

“I’m not gay,” Regina said with certainty, “I was just in a strip club and I felt nothing.”

“Okay,” Echo drawled. “Not even for the blonde?”

“No,” Regina shook her head, “when I saw her, all I could think was that she’s not Emma.”

Echo let out a long laugh and Regina frowned, “what’s so funny?”

“You know Emma is a woman right?” Echo laughed. “You know that having strong feelings for one woman rather than all woman can still make you gay, right?”

Regina clenched her jaw as she considered it for a minute and Echo watched the street-band play and tapped her foot in time with the music. After a while she realised Regina was still lost in thought.

“Look, Regina, I meet a lot of baby dykes who come to the city to explore their sexuality. A lot of them choose a type they wanna tap and that’s it. They don’t care about anything other than getting their kicks, they drink, dance and screw. Simple as that.”

Regina blushed and looked around the street to see if anyone had overheard the crass commentary coming from Echo.

“But you, you’re different, which makes me think that Emma is a lucky girl.”

“What do you mean?” Regina frowned.

Echo sighed, “you’re not in town to scratch an itch, you came to town and you fell in love.”

Regina laughed at that, “I am not in love.”

Echo folded her arms and stared at the woman, “really? Do me a favour, okay? Pretend that Emma is a man, replay all of your interactions with her and your internal monologues and whatever as if she was a man.”

Echo watched as Regina’s expression changed from boredom to consideration and finally to realisation. After a while Regina looked at Echo with shock written all over her face.

“You’re gay,” Echo announced, “but you’re gay for one woman. It happens. Maybe it’s a crush but you don’t seem like the kind of woman who has crushes.”

“I..” Regina stumbled.

“Echo, I hope you’re keeping outta trouble?”

Both women turned around to see an older, larger black lady smiling at them, she regarded Regina with a look up and down, “if it isn’t fine shoes.”

“Hey, Miss Mae,” Echo smiled. “Just hanging out with my new buddy here.”

“You work at the tourist office,” Regina said as she started to remember where she had seen the woman.

“I surely do,” Miss Mae smiled. “You didn’t like my bus.”

“No,” Regina blushed. “I didn’t like much that day.”

“I thought as much,” Miss Mae said with a knowing smile.

“I’m sorry,” Regina said sincerely.

Miss Mae regarded Regina with a long look, “I’ll think about accepting your apology if you watch my show tonight.”

Regina’s eyes widened as she wondered what kind of show the older lady was talking about.

“Miss Mae is the best jazz singer in town,” Echo explained to Regina quickly.

“Oh, well, yes, I suppose I could drop by,” Regina said, confused as to why she was receiving a personal invitation from the woman.

“Go back to your sinful ladies, Echo,” Miss Mae said with soft humour, “I’ll look after miss fine shoes here.”

Regina looked down at her heels with a frown and when she looked up again Miss Mae was taking her arm and leading her away from Echo and down Frenchmen Street. She looked over her shoulder and saw Echo smile and salute her farewell before heading back into the club.

“Child, you have to be careful who you trust in this city,” Miss Mae said softly but with a smile.

Regina watched with interest as the crowds parted for them, many people greeting Miss Mae as they walked by.

“Can I trust you?” Regina grinned.

“More than you can trust Echo,” Miss Mae chuckled. “Girl is trouble. A good heart but still trouble.”

Regina nodded her understanding.

“Where are we going?”

“The Snug,” Miss Mae grinned, “best jazz venue in town.”

“Oh,” Regina said as she looked around the street mesmerised by how friendly people were being to them.

“You’re going to have a front row seat, I’ll see to that,” Miss Mae said.

“T-thank you,” Regina said, unsure of why she was being afforded the special treatment.

“I sing for twenty-five minutes, no longer,” Miss Mae said seriously before laughing. “Always leave ‘em wanting more.”

Regina chuckled.

“And then you and I are going to talk about my girl Emma,” Miss Mae said.

Regina felt a blush capture her cheeks and looked fearfully down at the older lady who still had her arm and was leading her into a bar.

“And don’t think about leaving early,” Miss Mae winked. “I know where you staying, fine shoes.”

Regina swallowed and nodded as she wished, not for the first time that evening, that she had stayed in the hotel and watched some more of the show where people sold off other people’s thrown out belongings. 

But that wasn’t to be as Miss Mae guided her to a seat in the front row and used her fingers to point to her eyes and then to Regina as she walked towards the bar and spoke to a bartender. Regina looked around at the small venue and examined the old black and white photographs on the wall. Technically they were too far away for her to see in any detail but she wasn’t about to stand up as Miss Mae hadn’t sanctioned it.

Jazz music played through speakers on a quiet loop and the bartender came and took Regina’s drink order, she opted for water and fruit juice in order to remain sober for whatever Miss Mae had to say to her. 

In what she was understanding was traditional New Orleans style people started to arrive and quickly grabbed some drinks and within a few short minutes the bar was filled to capacity. Some musicians started to set up on the stage and Regina watched with interest how quickly they managed to set up and tune their kit.

As a spot light lit up the middle of the stage a silence fell over the room and Regina looked around at the crowd who seemed to have suddenly stopped talking in preparation for something. Regina didn’t know much about New Orleans residents but she did know they preferred noise to quiet so she was surprised that she could hear the ice cubes clanking together in her drink.

A large and worn armchair was brought up onto stage but a couple of the bar staff and a few moments later Miss Mae appeared on the stage and the crowd went wild. Regina clapped politely but was surprised by all of the commotion from audience. 

Miss Mae smiled and raised her microphone to her mouth and turned to wink at the musicians. It was an indication for the music to begin and a moment later Miss Mae started to sing and Regina instantly understood the reverence with which people had looked at the older woman on the street. 

The short set went by in what seemed like five minutes to Regina, the majority of the audience didn’t try to applaud in-between songs and if they did try all it took was a glare from Miss Mae to silence them again. 

At the end of the set Miss Mae whispered a quiet thank you and the audience went wild with whoops and applause and even Regina stood up and loudly clapped. Miss Mae smiled and walked off stage towards the backroom and a moment later one the bar staff asked Regina to come backstage. 

Regina felt like she had been caught misbehaving in school and was being sent to the principal’s office and nervously entered the small dressing room where Miss Mae was sat in an armchair that looked as worn as the one on stage.

In front of her was a whiskey and a glass of water and she gestured for Regina to sit on the small sofa that was beside the dressing table.

Regina sat down, “you’re extremely talented. You have an amazing voice.”

Miss Mae grinned knowingly, “thank you, I like to keep performing though I’m probably too old for it.”

“Not at all,” Regina smiled.

“You be a terrible liar, fine shoes,” Miss Mae laughed.

Regina glanced down at her black heels but before she could say anything Miss Mae spoke again.

“My Emma has been moping around all weekend.”

Regina remained silent as she didn’t know what to say to the statement.

“She won’t speak to me,” Miss Mae shook her head. “She stubborn.”

“Yes, she is,” Regina agreed.

“And she don’t want to get her heart all broken up either,” Miss Mae said with another knowing smile that seemed to be her speciality.

“I.. I know,” Regina nodded. 

“Did you find the answers you wanted with Echo?” Miss Mae asked as she leaned forward and picked up the whiskey drink and swirled it around the glass.

“I think so,” Regina replied. 

“So whatcha gonna do?”

“I.. I don’t know,” Regina breathed.

“You want some free advice, fine shoes?”

Regina nodded slightly.

“You know they call this city the Big Easy, right?”

Regina nodded again.

“That was thought up by some fancy marketing types in the sixties, it is supposed to signify our laidback attitude to life. But N’awlins ain’t easy, it’s anything but easy. Just like the rest of this country, life is hard. We have to deal with unemployment, natural disasters and tourists.”

Regina snorted a laugh.

“You may laugh, fine shoes,” Miss Mae took a sip of her whiskey, “but you tourists, man you cause trouble. Don’t get me wrong, we like yer money.”

Miss Mae winked and Regina smiled.

“Having to deal with all that as well as this heat, it makes you kinda appreciate what you got,” Miss Mae lowered the glass and leaned back in her chair. “You from New York?”

“I am,” Regina nodded.

“The Big Apple,” Miss Mae nodded. “With all your running around, business deals and coffee to go.”

“And our fine shoes,” Regina grinned as she indicated her heels.

Miss Mae laughed loudly, “and your fine shoes!”

The older woman stared at Regina for a few moments, “I can see why Emma likes you.”

“We agreed to avoid each other,” Regina explained.

“I gathered,” Miss Mae nodded. “She said you were confused, still figuring things out.”

Regina nodded and avoided eye contact with Miss Mae.

“Thing is, life is short, we may be laidback down here but we don’t go wasting no time. We live our live to the full, we find our happiness wherever we can and we embrace it. Not like you big city folks, going to doctors every time you have a feeling.”

Regina laughed at the thought of the therapy sessions she had been forced to attend by her mother after her father had died. She hated them and purposefully lied to the therapist so he heard what she thought he wanted to hear.

“The way I see it,” Miss Mae shook her from her memories. “You got two choices. But the only one worth talking about is the one where you forget this silly talk of avoiding each other and you spend your last week in town together.”

Regina frowned, “but Emma is scared of being hurt.”

“You ain’t gonna hurt her, fine shoes, you in love with her.”

“How can you possibly know that?”

“I saw it in your eyes the first time I mentioned her name,” Miss Mae smiled. “If you were here for some pickup then you would have gone with Echo or stayed at that nasty club. You not like the other girls.”

“Emma’s worried that.. that I don’t know what I want,” Regina tried to explain.

“Emma’s worried that you not into the girls,” Miss Mae smiled softly. “But you don’t need to be into girls to love one girl.”

“I’m finding this all very confusing,” Regina admitted.

“Love ain’t easy, fine shoes,” Miss Mae said as she looked at her watch. “And old women need their beauty sleep. You go back to your hotel room and you think about Emma. Don’t go confusing the issue with other things, just think about Emma. If you agree that I’m right then come by the tourist office up on Basin Street tomorrow afternoon.”

Miss Mae stood up and Regina looked up at the woman, “what time tomorrow afternoon?”

Miss Mae laughed and cupped Regina’s face with her hand, “ain’t you learnt nothing yet? We don’t worry about that so much around here. Tomorrow afternoon will do just fine.”

Regina nodded and stood up and followed Miss Mae out of the dressing room and into the busy bar where a few fans waited to speak with the singer. Regina said goodnight and made her way out of the bar and started to walk back towards her hotel.

The loose pieces were starting to fall together in her mind and the confusing question about sexuality as a whole was being broken down. Echo was right in her description of all the types of lesbian that existed. What had struck a chord with Regina most was the comparison with straight relationships, she didn’t find all men attractive so it was perfectly reasonable that she wouldn’t find all women attractive. It wasn’t a matter of straight or gay anymore, it was based upon the person themselves. 

Regina had no idea what her sexuality was but she did know that she couldn’t shake the memory of the kiss by the streetcars from her mind. When she had initiated the kiss the next night it was because she wanted to experience that feeling again. 

She didn’t have all the answers and she would probably need a lot of time and guidance to find them but at least she was sure of one things. She was going to the Basin Street tourist office the next afternoon, whatever time that might be.


	12. Chapter 12

Regina walked into the tourist office on Basin Street at precisely three o’clock which she had decided would constitute a good afternoon kind of time. 

The heat seemed to becoming more and more intense and she was lightly perspiring as she walked through the large doors and took a deep breath of cool air. 

In her heart she knew it wasn’t just the outside temperature that was causing her heat beat to pump harder than usual. She had taken Miss Mae’s advice and had stayed awake the previous night as she thought about Emma. 

It had surprised her how much affection she already felt for the young blonde and she heard Emma’s words about fate and true love play over in her mind. While she was no closer to believing any such ridiculous notion she had to admit that her feelings had been a shock to her.

Regina had considered Miss Mae’s words for a long time, wondering if it was true that she could love one particular girl without necessarily being gay. She had wrestled with the finer points of the argument and debated whether being interested in Emma would make her gay anyway. Before she lost her sanity in a never-ending spiral of confusion she started to focus on the essential point and analysed what her interest in Emma actually was.

After the burlesque show it had become absolutely apparent that it was a physical interest. A few gulps of the whiskey in the minibar had been enough for the honest truth to flow and she realised that she was hoping to have seen more of Emma that evening. 

The thought made her blush and then smile and then blush some more. She didn’t know if it was love as Miss Mae was suggesting, she didn’t even know if she was capable of love anymore, but she knew there was something.

“Ah, there you are,” Miss Mae called out from behind her desk.

Regina looked at the woman and nodded nervously, especially as Emma was stood in the large lobby that made up the tourist office.

“So very kind of you,” Miss Mae said loudly. “She giving me a donation for the church!”

Regina blinked in surprise at Miss Mae’s declaration to Emma.

“Hundred dollars, wasn’t it?” Miss Mae asked Regina with a smile firmly set on her face.

Regina narrowed her eyes and approached the desk.

“Excuse me,” Emma said quickly and walked out of the lobby and into the old station waiting room.

Regina watched Emma leave and then looked at Miss Mae who had her hand out with her palm raised to the sky,

Regina rolled her eyes and got her purse from her handbag and started to count some money into the woman’s open hand.

“Why am I giving you one hundred dollars exactly?”

“For my church.”

“And when did I agree to that?”

“You didn’t,” Miss Mae folded the money and placed it in her bra. “But now think how kind and generous you look to Emma. Ain’t no one who don’t like a philanthropist.”

Regina looked at the woman and then into the waiting room where Emma had disappeared to.

“What now?”

Miss Mae shrugged, “don’t look at me, fine shoes. You did the thinking, you came here. You must have something to say.”

Regina sighed as she realised she had been hustled out of hundred dollars by the wily old woman and shook her head as she walked towards the waiting room.

The brunette was about to speak when she found her breath taken away by the beautifully preserved station waiting room. For a moment she forgot why she had even stepped into the room and instead looked around with open-mouthed awe.

Old wooden benches, the high and ornate ceiling and the display cases made it feel like she had stepped back in time and she turned and regarded the first display case with interest.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Regina was surprised to see Emma standing beside her, focusing intently on the display case that Regina was looking at.

“Very,” Regina admitted. “A wonderful restoration.”

Emma nodded and continued to avoid Regina’s gaze, forcing Regina to look back at the contents of the display cabinet.

Models of trains, old tickets, timetables and other historical documents were displayed with information cards. Regina frowned at a document and smiled as she recognised a shopping list.

Emma followed Regina’s gaze and smiled. 

“Some things never change.”

Regina nodded, “indeed, we all still need bread, milk and sugar.”

“I often look at that and wonder whose shopping list it was,” Emma mused.

“And did they lose it before or after they bought the items?” Regina continued with a grin.

Emma laughed. “Maybe they got to the store and wondered what was on the list?”

“Yes,” Regina nodded. “Or they could only remember two items.”

“Oh, I hate that! There’s always one thing, no matter how many things you need, you always forget one.”

“Invariably the one you need the most,” Regina agreed as she looked at another cabinet containing a conductor’s uniform. “More formal than your tram uniform.”

“Streetcar,” Emma corrected with a smile.

Regina distractedly waved her hand with a grin and Emma realised the brunette was playing with her.

“Why did you come here?”

“To donate to Miss Mae’s church,” Regina shrugged.

“She’s an atheist,” Emma pointed out with a raised eyebrow. 

Regina slowly turned her head to look at Emma with an incredulous shake of her head and then muttered something under her breath.

Emma laughed, “and with a mouth like that I can’t see you as the church donating sort.”

“I.. I came to see you,” Regina admitted.

The air became quickly charged between them and Emma knitted her brow before asking in a whisper, “why?”

“I had to see you,” Regina confessed and let out a shuddering breath. “I tried to stay away. I really did, I even tried to stay away from the French Quarter in the hope I wouldn’t bump into you.. in the end I couldn’t maintain it so I went out on Frenchmen Street.”

Regina stepped away from the display case and sat on a wooden bench and looked up at Emma and sighed, “while I was dining alone I bumped into Echo.”

Emma visibly tensed, “oh?”

Regina didn’t notice Emma’s discomfort and continued, “she invited herself to dinner with me and we talked. She convinced me to go on to some seedy club..”

“Regina,” Emma interrupted.

Regina paused and looked up at the blonde with a frown and was confused why Emma looked suddenly so pained.

“Regina,” Emma sighed, “if this is going to be some story about how Echo helped you with your sexual awakening.. I don’t.. I don’t want to hear it. I.. I’ve heard it before.”

Regina blinked and the laughed and it reverberated in the large space.

“God, no!” Regina exclaimed. “No, absolutely no. We spoke, nothing more. In fact we mainly spoke about you.”

Emma frowned and looked nervously down at Regina and waited for her to continue.

“Anyway, we were..” Regina let out an embarrassed breath. “At a strip club and I didn’t’ feel comfortable so I asked if we could leave. Outside we met Miss Mae and.. well, I went to hear her perform and then we spoke.”

“Look, Regina,” Emma shifted nervously.

“No, I.. I need to say this,” Regina held up her hand. “I still don’t have all the answers, I wish I did. But I have enough to know that I.. I want to try. I want to.. I..”

“Hey, babe.”

Regina turned around to see a tall, slim blonde enter the waiting room and walk towards Emma purposefully. Emma looked from the blonde to Regina with a nervous swallow and opened her mouth to speak but seemingly had no words.

The new arrival didn’t seem to notice any tension in the room and gave Emma a kiss on the cheek, “your shift over?”

Emma licked her lips and stumbled for a moment before she looked at her watch and nodded, “y-yeah, yeah, sorry I lost track of time.”

Regina looked at the two blondes in front of her and her face fell and she quickly stood up and walked towards the exit and hurried out into the street. 

“Stupid fool,” Regina mumbled to herself as she powered her way across the busy road, weaving in and out of traffic without too much thought.

She heard Emma call after her and pretended she couldn’t hear as she made it to the other side of the two lanes of traffic. She continued to powerwalk across the grassy central reservation and looked up to cross the next road.

All at once the sound of a horn blaring, tires screeching and a dull thud blurred into one sickening mess and Regina found herself shocked still. She knew what had happened but she pleaded with herself that it wasn’t the case. 

For a moment she stood frozen as if hoping that if she didn’t see the scene then she could pretend that it hadn’t happened. That standing still would allow Emma to catch up to her, that the thud was in her imagination and not reality.

But the longer she stood still the more she was aware of people pointing, cars coming to a stop and the sound of someone screaming. Regina turned around and felt a cold fear wash over her as she saw was she already knew she’d find; Emma’s body in the road.

Without having control over her body Regina found herself slowly stumbling towards Emma who wasn’t moving and was on her side with her back facing Regina. 

Regina heard the bloodcurdling scream again and looked up to see the blonde from the waiting room running towards Emma, fishing her cell phone from her tight jeans as she ran.

Regina and the blonde both reached Emma at the same time and Regina knelt beside Emma and hesitantly brought her fingers to Emma’s neck to search for a pulse.

“Ambulance, I need an ambulance on Basin Street, by the old station,” the blonde cried into her phone. “My cousin, she’s been hit by a car. She’s.. she’s not moving.”

Regina felt a stomach-turning blow at the words. The blonde was Emma’s cousin. 

“Lady?!”

Regina realised the blonde, Emma’s cousin was looking at her with a questioning frown. With a blink Regina got herself together and remembered what she was doing and focused on searching for a pulse.

With a relieved nod she spoke, “there’s a pulse, it’s weak but it’s there.”

The blonde relayed the information down the phone and Regina looked down at Emma’s beautiful face which was grazed but peaceful. She threaded her fingers through long blonde locks and removed them from the blonde’s face, tucking them behind her ear.

“What happened?” 

Regina looked from one blonde to another and opened her mouth to apologise but no words came out.

“Miss Mae called me and then I saw Em running off!”

Regina breathed a sigh of relief, “I.. I don’t know.. she.. I think she was coming after me.”

“Who are you? I’m Chloe, by the way,” the blonde said as she knelt closer to Emma and picked up a limp hand in her own.

“I’m.. just a tourist,” Regina swallowed. “Regina, we.. we met a couple of times.”

The sound of ambulance sirens could be heard in the distance and Regina looked up to see how far away they were and realised for the first time that they were surrounded by onlookers. 

Everything seemed so surreal. A few moments ago she was confessing her feelings to the woman who now lay unconscious in the middle of the road. It was then that Regina realised that she was crying, hot tears falling fast down her cheeks as she frantically looked around for the approaching ambulance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry.


	13. Chapter 13

Regina stepped out of the taxi and gave a grim smile to the doorman who opened the door to the hotel for her. She moved in a daze as she stepped through the door and into the lobby, her mind spinning with confusion and uncertainty regarding her actions.

After the ambulance arrived the paramedics quickly secured Emma to a stretcher and positioned it into the back of the ambulance. Chloe was in tears and explaining to the paramedics what she saw, a kind female paramedic led her into the back of the ambulance. 

Regina had stood frozen in place as the doors were slammed shut and the ambulance sped off up the road with lights and sirens activated. 

The more Regina deliberated her next move the more terrified she felt. Fear that Emma wouldn’t survive or that she would be terribly injured and blame Regina for her predicament overtook Regina’s senses. 

A kind taxi driver who had stopped and was directing traffic around the crash noticed Regina stood in the road and offered to take her home. Part of Regina knew she should go to the hospital but the fear was too great so she accepted the offer and returned to the hotel.

“Miss Mills!”

Regina looked up as she belatedly realised that someone had been calling her name for some time.

“Miss Mills,” a female receptionist approached Regina as she waited for the elevator to arrive. “A message for you, they said it was urgent.”

Regina took the piece of hotel-issued paper that had been neatly folded in half and distractedly thanked the receptionist. She unfolded the paper and saw in neat, printed handwriting a telephone number with the words: “Call Zelena immediately.”

The bell indicated that the old elevator cart had arrived and as the doors opened Regina stood to one side to allow an elderly couple clear access before she got in and pressed the button for her floor.

The last thing she wanted was to deal with Zelena and any home-based emergency, she had enough problems with the supposedly relaxing vacation she was on.

As she waited for the antiquated elevator to ascend to her floor she looked at the piece of paper again and noticed that her hands were shaking slightly. She cleared her throat and folded the paper and quickly folded her arms, tucking her shaking hands tightly against her body.

A few minutes later and Regina was pacing the length of her hotel room with the cordless room telephone in her hand as she punched in her sister’s number.

Holding the device to her ear she realised that her heart was pounding and she sat on the edge of the bed.

“Zelena Mills.”

“It’s me,” Regina sighed.

“Oh, thank God, where have you been?”

Regina felt her breath catch. “I.. got caught up with something. What do you want?”

“You have to go to see Addison, right now,” Zelena said quickly.

“What? Why?” Regina frowned.

“Michael’s back.”

“Michael?” Regina’s breath paused and she felt her heart beating out her chest. “He.. he’s back?”

“Yes, apparently he told his wife everything about you and him. Now, well, they came back.”

“Oh, God,” Regina started to pace again. “How do you know?”

“Mother.”

“What?!” Regina cried.

“Regina, I’m so sorry but mother knows about Uncle Addison,” Zelena said quickly.

Regina jumped to her feet, “Zelena! You said you wouldn’t tell her!”

“I didn’t tell her anything,” Zelena implored in such a tone that Regina found it impossible to not believe her. “I know I threatened to tell her but I promise you I didn’t. I never would, Regina. Never. Michael came to the office and told her everything he knew and mother put the pieces together.”

Regina felt her legs start to wobble as realisation overtook her and she fell backwards into a chair.

Zelena continued, “she realised that you and father taking that year in Brazil wasn’t anything to do with his recovery.”

“What is she going to do?” Regina asked in a panicked breath.

“She’s going to go to Brazil and see Uncle Addison,” Zelena replied. 

“She.. she can’t do anything,” Regina said with confidence she didn’t feel. 

“You know mother,” Zelena said solemnly. 

“I have to get to Brazil,” Regina whispered as she stood up and walked over to the wardrobe and flung the doors open and pulled out an empty suitcase.

“And then what?” Zelena asked.

“I.. I don’t know,” Regina replied. “I’ll figure that out when I get there. All I know is that Michael and his damned wife are not getting their hands on what is mine.”


	14. Chapter 14

It had been four days since the crash and Emma was itching to get out of the hospital and back to her apartment. Every time someone walked passed her room she looked up and felt her heart swell with anticipation. And every time she realised it wasn’t Regina she sighed and quickly attempted to cover her disappointment.

“Still just me,” Chloe grinned as she walked into the room with an apple and a bottle of water and handed both items to her cousin.

“Sorry,” Emma mumbled.

“Why won’t you tell me who it is you’re constantly looking out for?” Chloe asked with a frown. “You’ve had half of New Orleans in here wishing you a speedy recovery, who am I missing?”

“No one,” Emma said as she shook her head and bit into the apple.

Chloe rolled her eyes, it had been three days since Emma regained consciousness and ever since then she had seemed distracted and like she was waiting for someone to come and see her.

“So, the doctor says you can go home, excited?” Chloe asked in an attempt to get more than two words out of her cousin.

“Yeah,” Emma said with a nod of her head.

“You’re going to have to take it easy though,” Chloe said with a serious tone. “Three broken ribs and concussion means no dancing, no driving. You need to take it easy.”

“I will.” Emma reassured her cousin.

Chloe let out a small sigh at Emma’s lack of enthusiasm. 

“Oh, before I forget,” Chloe said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a box. “Your replacement phone was delivered today.”

Emma looked up with a flash of interest in her eyes. Her cell phone had been destroyed in the crash, although the doctors did say that it probably saved her from having a fractured hip. 

Sitting up a little higher Emma reached out and took the box and started to open up the cardboard box and remove the various plastic pieces that protected the device.

“I’m going to go and speak to the nurse about getting your prescription,” Chloe said when she noticed that Emma was too focused on the phone to talk to her.

Emma didn’t even notice Chloe leave the room as she located the metal pin to remove the SIM cover and opened the bedside cabinet drawer and picked up her old SIM card from inside.

Slotting the SIM card into place she then unravelled the charging cable and plugged it into the wall beside her bed and started to charge the phone. 

The phone started to boot up and Emma was happy to note that there was some charge in the phone already. She impatiently waited for the phone to boot up and when it found a signal she waited for the text messages to come in and anxiously scrolled through.

With a frown she noted that none of them were from Regina so she dialled her voicemail service and listened to the messages there. She quickly fast-forwarded through get well messages until she came to the last new message and sighed. She placed the phone against her lip as she thought about what to do. 

In the three days since she had been awake she had replayed the conversation in the Basin Street waiting room. She was sure that Regina was about to say something important, she had completed the conversation many times in her dreams. 

Though sometimes those dreams turned to nightmares, which were exactly the same as the reality. Regina ran and Emma followed. A screeching of wheels on hot tarmac and the sound of a car horn followed by the feeling of impact and then darkness. 

Emma lowered the phone and looked at the screen and scrolled through her contacts to Regina’s number and hovered her thumb over the name for a few moments before pressing down. She held the phone to her ear and waited for the dial tone. She frowned as the dial tone took longer than she expected to connect and then a strange tone could be heard before a standard voicemail message played.

Emma hung up and frowned at her phone as she wondered what was wrong with the brand new device. She tried again with the same results and hung up again before calling the Hotel Royal.

“Hotel Royal, Melanie speaking. How may I direct your call?”

“Hey Mel, it’s Emma,” Emma said.

“Emma! Oh, it’s so good to hear from you, are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Emma said with a forced smile. “I’m all good, or I will be soon. I was wondering if you could put me through to Regina Mills?”

“Sure, let me just connect you.”

Emma let out a sigh of relief as she waited and listened to the sound of typing in the background.

“Sorry, Emma. She checked out four days ago.”

Emma felt a chill run through her body. Regina had checked out, presumably left New Orleans, on the very day that Emma had been hit by a car as she chased after the woman. Regina knew about the accident, Chloe had mentioned her presence at the scene to Emma.

“Emma? Did you get that?” Melanie asked.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, got distracted. No worries, thanks for checking.”

Emma hung up the phone before any further questions could be asked. Whatever Regina was planning to say to her would remain a mystery, the brunette had gone and despite Emma’s attempts to not have her heart broken she couldn’t help but feel a familiar sensation in her chest.


	15. Chapter 15

Three weeks had passed since the crash and Emma was beginning to get her life back to normal. While she certainly wasn’t performing her burlesque show at Façade she was working on the steamboat and had recently started to work at CeeCee’s bar again.

It was yet another hot day on Bourbon Street and as was common for the time of year the broken red tiles of the sidewalk were wet from rain water.

Emma sat on an old and wobbly stool behind the bar at CeeCee’s having watched the heavy rain come and go while leaning close to the antiquated old fan that whirred beside her. 

It was nearly ten o’clock on a Tuesday and Emma stared across the road at the spot where Zelena’s rental car had pulled up and deposited Regina in the city some weeks earlier.

An elderly man who entered the bar and smiled at Emma and Emma lowered herself gently from the stool. 

“Morning sir,” Emma said with a warm smile. “What can I get you?”

“Just a bottle of water,” the man said and fished around in his pocket to scoop up a handful of coins and started to count them onto the bar.

Emma picked up a bottle of water that was floating in a bucket of half-melted ice and placed it on the bar. She picked up the coins that the elderly man slid across to her.

“Where is Basin Street Station?” 

“Carry on down Bourbon,” Emma said as she stood on the bottom rung of her stool and leaned over the high bar. “About another five minute walk, you’ll come to a café with an outside seating area, take the next left. Keep going and you’ll see it right in front of you.”

“Wonderful,” the man said as he picked up the water bottle. “And that’s where the tourist office is?”

“Yes, I highly recommend the open-top bus,” a familiar voice sounded from the doorway.

Emma looked up in shock to see Regina standing in the doorway.

The elderly man regarded Regina, “that sounds great, thank you!”

As he left Regina smiled at him, “no problem, enjoy your stay in town!”

Emma had been staring at Regina for only a second before her gaze shifted to what was in her arms. 

Regina turned to look at Emma and then followed the blonde’s shocked gaze to the sleeping boy who Regina was holding and balancing on her hip.

“Hello Emma,” Regina said in a whisper.

“You have a son,” Emma said incredulously.

“Yes,” Regina nodded. “His name is Henry, like my father and my uncle.”

“Lot of Henry’s in your family,” Emma said as she continued to stare at the slumbering brown haired boy.

“Yes, which is why we call my uncle by his last name, Addison,” Regina explained.

“Addison,” Emma looked at Regina with confusion. “Zelena said she’d tell your mother about Addison.”

“Yes,” Regina said as she nodded her head and walked towards the nearest available stool and sat down. As she did Henry started to stir slightly and Regina adjusted her grip on him so they would both be more comfortable.

The movement allowed Emma to finally see the face of the boy and she swallowed hard at the soft features and messy hair that stuck to his forehead with perspiration.

“I’m sorry I left without seeing you,” Regina said as she looked down at Henry and gently moved the strands of hair from his face.

“You could have called,” Emma said bitterly.

“Yes, but I didn’t know what to say,” Regina admitted. “I wanted to see you, I wanted to explain everything to your face.”

Emma nodded her head and tore her gaze from Henry to look at Regina.

“Are you married?”

“No,” Regina said simply.

“Engaged? Boyfriend?” 

“No and no. I’m single.”

Emma frowned and looked at Henry. She wasn’t one to judge but she knew babies didn’t occur from thin air and she didn’t picture Regina as a single mother.

“I had an affair with a married man,” Regina confessed. “It was stupid and I deeply regret what I did. I foolishly thought he would leave his wife but he didn’t. I became pregnant and when I told him he took his wife and left, I later found out that they were in Europe.”

Emma leaned back on her bar stool and regarded Regina with curious interest. She wanted to be angry at the woman but all she could feel was relief that she was finally back and that she seemed to be confiding in her.

“My mother couldn’t have stood the scandal of my being pregnant out of wedlock. I told my father, he was recovering from a minor heart attack and he came up with a plan that we would both travel to Brazil for a year. He would be recovering from his health scare and I would supposedly be travelling and keeping him company.”

Henry started to fidget in Regina’s arms and Regina adjusted her grip again and whispered soothing words in his ear until he calmed down.

“My father convinced me to keep the baby and to allow my Uncle Addison to take him when he was born. I wanted nothing to do with him, as far as I was concerned he was a mistake and would remind me of a terrible time in my life. Not to mention that my mother would disown me and cut me out of the family business.”

Regina wiped her lightly perspiring brow with the back of her hand and Emma fished another cold bottle of water from the bucket of icy water. She unscrewed the cap and placed both on the bar in front of Regina.

“Uncle Addison has been a foster father in Brazil for many years, he adores children and I had a lot of fond memories of visiting him when I was growing up. I knew it would be a good life for Henry and no one would need to know my secret.”

“But you changed your mind?” Emma asked with confusion.

“No, well, not at first,” Regina admitted. “After your accident I got a call from my sister to say that Michael had told his wife everything. Including that I was expecting his child. They had never been able to have children and they decided they wanted to take him, they approached my mother and told her everything. Mother put two and two together and realised that my father wasn’t convalescing in Brazil with his family, he was hiding out while I was pregnant.”

“They were on the way to Brazil to take Henry,” Regina chuckled bitterly. “Michael and I were together for five years, five years of my life he took from me. Promising me that he was going to divorce his wife but having no intention of it. And dropping me the second I was pregnant, running off to another continent. I saw red, there was no way he was going to have my child.”

Regina paused and took a long gulp of water before placing the bottle back on the bar. 

“I did a lot of soul-searching when I was in New Orleans. I discovered a lot about myself. On the way to Brazil I realised that I had spent years doing what other people wanted me to do. Michael wanted me to be a warm body, mother wanted me to be a perfect daughter, my sister wanted me to take the slack at the family business. And I did it all, I didn’t live my life for me.”

“When I laid eyes on Henry after a year being apart.. I fell in love with him. I knew I couldn’t let him go. I instantly knew he was what I wanted in my life.”

“He’s adorable,” Emma said with a soft smile.

“He is,” Regina agreed with an identical smile as she looked down at the brown haired boy.

“How old is he?” 

“Nineteen months,” Regina replied. “I had him five months into our year in Brazil. For the next seven months I.. I was in a bad place. I didn’t connect with him, I didn’t really want to see him. I was happy to get back to New York with my father.”

Regina paused and her gaze became distant. After a few moments her eyes refocused and she looked up at Emma.

“Six months after we got back my father and I were arguing, he wanted to tell mother about the baby and bring him to New York. He wanted a grandson.. we.. we fought. That evening he had a heart attack and died.”

“I am so sorry,” Emma said significantly.

“I felt to blame,” Regina explained. “I was to blame. I made a sick old man keep my secret, it was too much for him. I threw myself into work to forget about both my father and my son. My sister knew something was up and I eventually confided in her. She watched me go off the rails and eventually dumped me out there, she knew I needed time to process what had happened.”

Emma nodded, “so.. Michael came back and found out about your Uncle Addison? What happened there?”

“I got to Brazil first,” Regina explained. “The joy of being in Louisiana, I had a considerable head start. I knew if I stayed in Brazil with Henry that I could be drawn into a convoluted custody battle. I took him back to New York and instructed my lawyer, I had all the evidence that Michael had abandoned me when he found out I was pregnant. I registered the birth, made everything legal. He’s mine and mine alone.”

Regina looked down at Henry adoringly and Emma smiled at the brunette, “motherhood suits you.”

Regina chuckled before replying, “not quite the words my mother used.”

Emma winced sympathetically, “what did she say?”

“Well,” Regina sighed. “Suffice to say I was right, disowned, sacked with immediate effect.”

“She sacked her own daughter?” Emma asked incredulously. “One who has a baby?”

“Oh yes,” Regina said with a laugh. “My mother is.. well, she’s a real piece of work. She was appalled, her daughter an unmarried mother with gay tendencies.”

Emma blinked in surprise, “g-gay tendencies?”

“Yes,” Regina looked steadily at Emma. “I told my mother of this amazing woman I met while in New Orleans. She was extraordinary, a free spirit with a real zest for life. She taught me that I didn’t have to follow some conventional pattern to fit in with the world around me. I was able to do what I wanted to do, whatever made me happy.”

“Why are you here?” Emma breathed, praying to whatever God might listen.

“I wanted to see you,” Regina said honestly. “I know I have been something of a thorn in your side but I’ve had time to reflect on a lot of things and.. I want to get to know you. And if you want I’d like you to get to know me and my son.”

“I’d love that,” Emma sighed happily as she looked from the brunette to the small boy.


	16. Chapter 16

Emma stepped into the tourist office with a spring in her step for the first time in over a month and Miss Mae regarded her with a curious gaze.

“Good afternoon,” Emma said happily as she unstrapped her backpack and placed it on the floor behind the desk. “How are you today?”

Miss Mae’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the smiling and excitable blonde.

“What up with you dove?”

Emma looked at Miss Mae and bit her lip as she debated whether or not to tell her the wonderful news.

“Regina’s back.”

Miss Mae sighed and turned in her swivel chair to return to her crossword puzzle.

Emma saw Miss Mae’s reaction and rolled her eyes.

“She explained everything, she had family stuff she had to drop everything for.”

“She didn’t know if you were alive nor dead,” Miss Mae mumbled as she counted boxes on the page with the tip of her pen.

Emma paused for a moment and realised that she had spent the past three weeks complaining about Regina to Miss Mae. Between them they had agreed that she was trouble and not worth anymore of Emma’s time.

“She has a son,” Emma explained carefully.

While Miss Mae didn’t look up at that revelation she did pause in her box counting.

“It’s a complicated story but she had to give him up but she’s with him again now. He’s name is Henry and he is so cute.”

“How old is the boy?”

“Nineteen months,” Emma replied.

Miss Mae chuckled and shook her head ruefully, “she got you wrapped around her little finger, or if she didn’t before she will now. You love a toddler.”

Emma contemplated that for a moment, it was common knowledge that Emma was obsessed with toddlers. Babies she could take or leave, children she didn’t mind but the certain qualities of a toddler left her weak at the knees.

“Fine shoes waltzes back like nothing happened, dove you nearly died. And she didn’t leave a note, see how you were, nothing.”

Emma swallowed as she realised how hard it was to justify Regina’s actions. 

“She had to go.. this guy called Michael..”

Miss Mae waved her pen in the air to silence Emma as she continued to look at her crossword puzzle.

“I’m sure she had her reasons and I’m sure that whatever those reasons were you have already forgiven her,” Miss Mae chuckled softly. “Just don’t forget what happened, I don’t want to see you hurt, dove.”

Emma walked around the desk and stood beside Miss Mae and gave the woman a big hug, “I promise I’ll be careful.”

Miss Mae didn’t move and Emma bent down to look at the older woman’s face and grinned at the pout she was displaying.

“Oh come on, be happy for me,” Emma said with a chuckle.

Miss Mae looked at Emma, “okay but we need to find someone else to bitch about.”

* * *

A few hours later and Emma was walking down to the riverside to meet Regina at a restaurant for dinner. When she woke up that morning she never thought that Regina would step back into her life and she certainly didn’t think that she would bring Henry with her.

Emma didn’t have a chance to meet the sleeping toddler that morning so this would be her first meeting. She hoped her natural ability with children would work on this particular child. 

As she walked along the boardwalk towards the restaurant she could see Regina and Henry sat outside under a large parasol. Regina was saying something to Henry and she was laughing happily and Emma couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked.

Miss Mae’s words that afternoon had struck a chord with Emma and she started to consider Regina’s erratic behaviour. How she could leave Emma without knowing what had happened to her to how she could one minute not want Henry to suddenly wanting him again.

As Emma had changed into a white summer dress and fixed her hair she had decided that, no matter how uncomfortable it was, she had to bring her concerns up with Regina.

Before she knew it she had approached the table and stood next to Henry’s highchair and looked at the colourful stacking cups that lay on the food tray in front of him.

“Henry,” Regina said softly to get the boys attention.

Henry looked at Regina and then noticed his mother looking at Emma and looked up at the blonde.

“E-ma!” Henry cried excitedly.

Emma felt her heart clench at the adorable way the young boy was attempting to pronounce her name.

“Hello Henry,” Emma smiled as she took a seat beside him, opposite Regina. 

“E-ma!” Henry said again and looked at Regina to assure himself that Regina had seen their guest.

“Yes, Emma,” Regina said, softly attempting to correct the boy. “Emma’s having dinner with us.”

A waiter approached the table and handed each of the women a menu and placed a drawing sheet and some crayons beside Regina in case she wanted Henry to have them.

“I’m glad you could come,” Regina said to Emma as she cleared the stacking cups from Henry and replaced them with the paper and the crayons.

“Me too,” Emma admitted as she watched Henry pick up a blue crayon and excitedly run it over the paper. “You’re good with him.”

“Thank you.” Regina smiled.

“It’s quite a change,” Emma said carefully as she flipped through her menu.

“What do you mean?” Regina asked as she fondly watched Henry.

“Well,” Emma started and looked at Henry to check he was engaged in his colouring. “Going from not wanting to be a parent to this.”

Regina looked at Emma in shock for a moment before sitting upright and looking down at her menu.

“It sounds bad, I know.”

Emma winced and she wished she had taken a little more time to prepare what she wanted to say.

“I’m sorry, that was tactless, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes, you did,” Regina replied with a small nod of her head. “I understand, I.. I sound impulsive and unreliable. You’re wondering if I’m suited to this..”

“No! No, not at all,” Emma exclaimed as she put her menu down and reached her hand across the table to take Regina’s hand in her own. “I’m sorry, that really came out wrong.”

Regina opened her mouth to answer and looked at Emma for a moment as she decided her words. Suddenly Regina noticed something and her eyes slowly shifted to the side to see Henry staring at them with a smile.

“Nosey!” Regina said in a playful tone and removed her hand from Emma’s and gently tweaked Henry’s nose. “Nosey Henry Mills, that is your new name.”

“Enwy,” Henry stumbled over the letters.

“Henry,” Regina said with an exaggeration on the first letter.

“Enwy,” Henry repeated with a nod of the head and continued to massacre his piece of paper with random colours.

“Clearly I didn’t predict this when I named him,” Regina said softly as she looked back at Emma. “But then I didn’t predict I’d see much of him ever again. I was a different person last year, hell I was a different person five weeks ago.”

“What changed?” Emma asked.

“Honestly?” Regina asked before letting out a disbelieving chuckle. “You.”

“Me?” Emma frowned in confusion.

“Yes, you,” Regina repeated. “You with your own way at tackling this thing called life. You with your non-conformity and happiness. You with your twenty-seven jobs..”

“Nine, actually.”

“Saving lives, pouring drinks, driving trams..”

“Streetcars.”

“You are full of life, Emma,” Regina said pointedly. “You are living your life, you’re doing the things you want to do and you’re not following the conventional rules and it’s working for you. I didn’t know that it could be like that.”

“What did you think it had to be like?” Emma asked with interest.

“Work commitments, family commitments. Find a man, get a house, get married, have children. Working up the corporate ladder.”

“Sounds boring.”

Regina laughed and caught a crayon that rolled off of Henry’s food tray and handed it back to him.

“It is boring, I just never really considered that there were alternatives. You opened my eyes to that and you made me analyse what I had done, what I was doing and where I wanted to be. I can never thank you enough for that gift.”

Emma blushed, she didn’t think for one second that she had done anything special and certainly not anything life changing but Regina seemed to think so.

The waiter returned and they both ordered food and non-alcoholic drinks, clearly both wanting to be clear-headed for whatever lay before them. Regina ordered a children’s meal for Henry and when the waiter listed the vegetable options the boy happily started shouting for peas.

The waiter left and as Emma opened her mouth to speak Henry animatedly sent a piece of paper flying in her direction.

“E-ma!” 

Emma picked up the colourful swirling mess and smiled as she replied, “wow, Henry, this is very good!”

Henry smiled and then held out his hand in a grabbing motion and Emma handed him the drawing back. Instantly he turned the paper over and started colouring the back of the sheet.

With a smile Emma looked at Regina. “The New Orleans creativity vibe has gotten into him already.”

Regina smiled lovingly at Henry. “Yes, I obviously didn’t have anything for him so I picked him up some crayons and a blank notebook for the flight to New York. He has been drawing ever since.”

Henry ran out of space on the back of his sheet of paper and turned it over and over again as if expecting a new blank sheet to appear. Regina reached into a baby bag she had with her and produced a blank sheet of paper and placed it in front of him.

Emma watched the interaction and smiled. Her mind was turning with different questions but the biggest one that kept presenting itself was the one that next fell from her lips.

“Why did you come back?”

Regina looked at Emma and instantly recognised the serious tone and folded her hands in front of her.

“To see you.”

Emma swallowed before she whispered, “you left, after.. after my accident. You left. You didn’t know if I was dead or alive.”

Anger flashed in Regina’s eyes, “you know why I had to leave..”

“But you didn’t even call!”

“I called every day,” Regina breathed. 

Emma blinked, “what?”

“I.. I called every day. I spoke to the same nurse, I told her I was your aunt from out of town and she kept me advised of your progress. She told me when you woke up at six in the evening of the day after your accident. She told me about the three broken ribs, numbers 5, 6 and 7. The concussion and the relief when there was no internal bleeding found.”

Emma swallowed and stared at Regina in surprise.

“I’m sorry, I know it was a breach of your privacy but.. I was too frightened to call you.”

Emma knew she should be angry about her personal medical details being so readily handed out but she was too overcome with joy. Regina had called every day, she even remembered details that Emma herself had forgotten.

“Are you angry?” Regina asked, concerned by the continued silence.

It was enough to break Emma out of her daze, “no, no, sorry I.. I thought you..”

“You thought I didn’t care.”

Emma winced and slowly nodded.

“Well, I can’t be surprised that you would feel that way, I didn’t leave you with anything to the contrary.”

They both regarded Henry and his colouring for a moment to take the heat out of the topic of conversation.

“I cared.. I care about you very much,” Regina said so softly that Emma wondered briefly if she was referring to Henry. “I know that seems ridiculous as we hardly know each other.”

“Not at all,” Emma said in a quick breath. “I.. feel the same.”

Regina smiled and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Some of her major questions were out of the way but there was one more that she was itching to ask but she decided she would leave it until later.

Soon their meals came and Emma noticed that Regina’s food was getting cold while she tended to Henry’s meal. The blonde silently took the cutlery from the brunette and finished the job so Regina could eat. They took turns eating their own meal while the other cut and fed Henry his meal before switching.

They kept to lighter topics, mainly Henry and Regina getting to know each other and Emma spoke of her recent return to work.

When the meal was finished and paid for, Regina insisted on paying it all, they stood and Emma helped to put Henry in his stroller.

“Sorry,” Regina apologised. “Dinner with a baby isn’t exactly a long affair and I need to get him ready for bed.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” Emma replied as she remained crouched in front of Henry and gently tickled his stomach.

“Maybe we could see each other again soon?” Regina asked hopefully.

“Sure, I’d really like that,” Emma replied. “Maybe Henry and you would like a trip on the steamboat tomorrow?”

The began to walk along the boardwalk and Regina nodded as she replied, “sounds wonderful, as long as you’re not going to throw yourself in the Mississippi after some worthless drunk again!”

Emma laughed but didn’t dignify the comment with a response, a question prominent in her mind and fighting to be aired taking up her thoughts.

“So,” Emma said as she eyed the calm waters of the Mississippi in order to not make eye contact with Regina. “Was there.. anything else I opened your eyes to?”

“I think you know,” Regina replied softly.

Emma turned to face her. “I’d like to hear it.”

Regina paused and pointed Henry’s stroller towards the railings so the boy could see the ships on the river.

“I.. like you,” Regina admitted carefully. “A lot.”

“Is that what you meant by gay tendencies?” 

Regina laughed. “Yes,” she admitted, “well, I’m not sure.”

Emma sighed, “still struggling with that label?”

“Oh no,” Regina said with a grin. “I may not know whether I’m straight, bi, gay.. but I do know one thing.”

Emma frowned as she asked, “what’s that?”

“I’m Emma-sexual,” Regina replied with a flirtatious grin that made Emma glad she had leant against the railings. 

“Em-Emma-s-sexual?” Emma stammered.

“Yes,” Regina replied mock-seriously. “I realised I was becoming too caught up in the more conventional questions again. Am I interested in men or am I interested in women? When the answer was staring me in the face all along. I’m interested in the person who caused me to initially question myself. So, I decided I’m Emma-sexual.”

Emma felt her mouth turn dry and stared longingly at Regina’s lips as her brain attempted to catch up with events and provide her with information. The last kiss she initiated was devastating in its aftermath and the last thing she wanted to do was make another error.

“Car!” Henry cried as he pointed at a large container ship.

Both women looked at him and chuckled. Regina knelt beside his stroller and pointed at the ship, “that is not a car Henry, that’s a ship. Can you say ship?”

Henry stared at it for a long while and Regina tried again and eventually Henry mumbled something that could have been interpreted as the correct word. The boy let out a long yawn and looked expectantly at Regina in an attempt to convey his boredom.

“We should go,” Regina said sadly as she stood up. “There’s been a lot of travel and excitement for him and I want to get him into a normal pattern as quickly as possible.”

“I understand,” Emma nodded as she looked at the adorable boy who was staring up at her.

Regina stepped closer to Emma and placed a light and yet lingering kiss on the blonde’s cheek. She handed Emma a business card. “Here’s my new number, let me know when and where to meet you tomorrow.”

Emma nodded and watched as Regina turned Henry’s buggy and started to walk in the direction of her hotel. As Henry was being turned around he waved goodbye to Emma and the blonde found herself waving back. She continued to hold her hand up in a semi-wave long after they were out of sight.


	17. Chapter 17

Emma mindlessly flipped through television channels while plucking up kernels of popped corn and eating them. Her mind was across town at the hotel where Regina and Henry were staying as it had been since she arrived back at her apartment.

A loud knocking on the door to her apartment caused her to switch the television off entirely and she placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table before walking to the door.

Looking through the peephole she saw Chloe standing on the other side of the door looking irritated. With a roll of green eyes Emma opened the door.

“She told you, huh?”

“She’s back?” Chloe demanded as she invited herself into the apartment and placed her hands on her hips as she watched Emma close the door.

“Yep.”

“With a kid?!”

“Right again,” Emma said with a sigh as she crossed the room towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Drink?”

“Em, I’m worried.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Do you want a drink or not?”

Chloe sighed. “Sure, I’ll have a juice.”

Emma picked up a large bottle of orange juice and placed it on the worktop and kicked the heavy fridge door closed. As she reached for two glasses on a shelf she glanced at her cousin.

“When did Miss Mae tell you?”

“She called me just as you left Basin Street,” Chloe admitted.

“Damn.” Emma shook her head. “I knew she couldn’t help but stick her nose in.”

“Em, she just left you. Dying in the street I might add.”

Emma spun around and pointed an accusing finger at her cousin, “take that back.”

Chloe folded her arms and looked at her cousin pointedly.

“You don’t know the whole story,” Emma added as she lowered her finger.

“Oh I know that she was the reason you got hit by a car. Then she left for a month and rocks up with a kid and suddenly she wants to go on a date with you. Weird how she’s suddenly sorted out her sexuality now she has a kid and no job.”

“Okay,” Emma said as she poured juice into the glasses. “Firstly, I’m the reason I got hit by a car. I may have been following her but I was the one who didn’t look at oncoming traffic.”

“If you say so.” Chloe shrugged.

“And secondly, Regina’s not like that. And if she was looking for someone to take her and Henry in do you really think she’d seek me out? Jesus, look around you!”

Chloe looked around at the beaten up old apartment that Emma called home. Sure, some people might have considered it homely or quaint but the truth was that Emma had never known how to make a house into a home. 

“And,” Emma continued, “she called the hospital every day. To check on me.”

“But she couldn’t call you?” Chloe asked with a bitter laugh punctuating her statement.

Emma handed Chloe a glass of juice. “She was worried I wouldn’t want to speak to her.”

“Oh, I wonder why!”

“She thought I blamed her for the crash,” Emma explained. “She wanted to explain things to be face to face.”

“Em,” Chloe let out a long sigh. “Pretty face and hot body aside, what do you really know about this woman?”

Emma leaned against the worktop in the kitchen and took a sip of her orange juice, her mind pulling up relevant details from their dinners and the street car journey.

“She was born in Brazil, though she’s never been able to get used to the heat of the country because she left when she was a small child. She idolised her father, her mother is a hard ass but she feels duty bound to appease her.”

Emma swirled the juice in her glass as she smiled the memory of the conversations. “She studied architecture at university and works with her mother and sister in a PR company in New York. She doesn’t much like it but she found she’s good with words and perception so she stuck at it, mainly for her mom.”

“She’s travelled to a lot o placed in Europe, she takes a lot of photographs but she never has time to look back at them so she reckons she has over ten thousand pictures to sort out one day. She loves animals and donates her time to an animal sanctuary in Jersey every other weekend.”

“Okay, okay,” Chloe sighed as she held her hands up to stop Emma.

“She’s hot-headed and quick to judge but when she gives something a chance she’s fair. She’s very honest, refreshingly so. She’ll tell you if she doesn’t like something and she’ll explain why. She likes to read biographies because she thinks it’s interesting to understand why people make the choices they do.”

“Em.”

“She has a lot of money but she doesn’t treat herself much, she is kinda too practical for that. She buys nice clothes because she needs them for work. When she travels to Europe she always ties it in with seeing a client. And she never thought she’d be any good at being a parent and although she looks like the best mother in the world I know that she is analysing every single decision she makes one hundred times over.”

“Em. Stop.”

Emma stopped and looked up at her cousin. “I know everyone thinks that this was just some vacation fling. I know people think that she’s hot and I lusted over her and that was it. But, you know what? I’m a big girl. I’m an adult and I spoke to her, I got to know her and I fell in love with her. I hated her when I first saw her, it wasn’t love at first sight. I got to KNOW her, Chloe.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Chloe said quietly.

Emma laughed loudly until her eyes started to fill with tears. “Oh, Chloe, you really think she’d wanna.. what? Use me? Me? Some kid from NOLA with a load of part time jobs. No savings. No prospects. What’s she using me for?”

“Em..” Chloe started.

“Maybe, and I know this is a bit of a hard one to accept, but maybe she likes me? Like I like her? Maybe that’s it!”

Chloe closed her opened mouth and nodded her head shamefully. “I’m sorry, Em. I don’t mean it like that. I.. I just care about you and I worry about you. It’s just so fast, you know?”

Emma looked sideways at her cousin and acknowledged her apology with a nod. “I know, really I do. But right now I’m happy.” Emma smiled as she thought more on the subject. “I’m really happy.”

Chloe nodded and sipped on her orange juice, “so the kid’s adorable?”

Emma grinned widely and nodded her head. “Oh, man, he’s amazing. So fucking cute.”

Chloe laughed. “Better stop swearing if you’re gonna be a mommy.”

The grin vanished from Emma’s face, “mommy?”

Chloe looked at Emma disbelievingly, “your new girlfriend has a kid, Em.”

Emma blinked for a second as the thought suddenly solidified in her brain. She surprised even herself at the irony that she had originally pushed Regina away as she didn’t want to be involved in a vacation-fling and now she was freaking out about dating a single mother.

“If she’s as great as you say,” Chloe continued with a grin on her face. “You could be mommy number two. Or mama, I guess?”

“Mama,” Emma whispered as her eyes glazed over.

Chloe smiled at her cousin’s sudden change in temperament. “You did say you were looking for something serious.”

“Yes,” Emma whispered in agreement.

“When is she going back to New York?” Chloe asked.

Emma’s eyes snapped up to meet Chloe’s. “I.. I don’t know. She didn’t say anything.”

It was obvious that Emma was only now considering the fact that Regina would soon be going home and obviously taking Henry with her. 

Chloe felt bad as she watched Emma rush through emotions of defiance, hope and realisation. “Maybe you guys could have a long distance relationship? With Skype and everything it’s easier these days. Or you could move to New York, maybe?”

“Yeah because there is a big call for streetcar drivers and steamboat hosts in New York,” Emma said with a sigh.

Emma felt like she had been soaked in cold water. In the space of two seconds she had gone from daydreaming about putting Henry to bed at the end of the day, even imagining him calling her mommy, to remembering that it was all temporary. She was in exactly the same situation that she was in before, Regina was on vacation and would one day go home to her no doubt perfect New York apartment.

“Shit,” Emma mumbled.

Chloe looked sympathetically at her cousin. “Got anything stronger than orange juice in the fridge? I think we’re going to need it tonight.”


	18. Chapter 18

Zelena Mills walked across the lobby of the Hotel Royal and smiled warmly at the receptionist.

“Good morning, how may I help you?”

“I need a room,” Zelena said with a smile as she opened up her handbag and removed her purse. “My sister is staying in this hotel, I’d like to stay near to her.”

Zelena paused and looked up in concentration before continuing, “not too close though, she has a child and I’d like to get some sleep.”

The receptionist smiled and nodded her understanding as she asked, “may I have your sister’s name?”

“Regina Mills.”

The receptionist typed the name into the computer and started to access the files while Zelena looked around the hotel lobby with interest.

“Ah yes, level six, number forty-two,” the receptionist announced. “I have a vacancy in thirty eight?”

“Perfect!” Zelena smiled and handed her credit card to the receptionist.

The receptionist took the card and set about booking Zelena into the hotel, she explained about the hotel breakfast and handed Zelena her room keycard.

On the six floor Zelena quickly dumped her luggage in her room before walking two doors down the corridor and knocking on her sister’s room. She waited for a while before knocking again, with a sigh she looked down and saw a sign hanging on the doorknob asking housekeeping to clean the room.

Zelena went back to her room and sat at the desk and wrote a short note on the hotel stationery before folding it in half and grabbing her handbag from the bed.

She checked her appearance in the mirror before exiting the room, on her way to the elevator she pushed the piece of paper under Regina’s hotel room door.

* * *

Emma stood on the dockside entertaining the passengers who were waiting for the steamboat to be ready for boarding with jokes and stories.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Regina arrived with an excited looking Henry in a pushchair. 

“Excuse me a moment,” she said to the couple she was talking to.

Weaving her way through the rope maze that contained the queue she approached Regina and smiled as warmly as she could. It was a tough sell considering she had been up all night with Chloe drinking and agonising over what to do.

Emma was sure that there was something important between her and Regina, something that deserved to be explored. But Emma was still adamant that she didn’t want her heart crushed when Regina finished her vacation and went home.

Moving to New York would be impossible, Emma didn’t have the funds or the experience to get work there. Not to mention that Regina hadn’t given her any indication of being that serious. 

“E-ma!” Henry said excitedly.

“Hey little man,” Emma said as she smiled down at the cute boy. 

“Are you okay?” Regina asked with a small frown as she analysed Emma’s expression.

“Yeah,” Emma said quickly brushing off the concern, “just tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Ah,” Regina nodded. “That makes three of us.”

“Oh?” Emma asked as she frowned at Henry to see if something was obviously wrong that would have prevented him from sleeping.

“I think it was the room,” Regina explained quietly. “He’s not used to there being any noise at all when he sleeps. We’re quite near Bourbon Street and when all that died down even the hum of the minibar kept him awake.”

Emma smiled. “I’m the same, there’s no electronics in my bedroom, hate the noise they make.”

“Maybe we’ll have to stay at yours,” Regina said and then blushed as she looked up at Emma. “I didn’t mean..”

Emma laughed and held her hand up to stop the rest of Regina’s apology. “It’s fine, I know what you mean.”

A crackling down from Emma’s belt caught her attention and she spoke into the walkie talkie and turned to the boat and nodded her head at a man on the deck.

“We’re all ready to start boarding,” Emma said. “Ready?”

Regina looked at the crowd of people by the dock, “shouldn’t you?”

“Lady,” Emma said with a serious tone, “I’m in charge of boarding the ship. Brunette’s with cute kids are first, sorry but it’s a safety thing.”

Regina bit her lip and grinned. “Sorry, I don’t understand these things, lead the way!”

Emma unhooked a rope from a pillar and gestured for Regina to follow her up the ramp and onto the steamboat.

* * * 

Zelena walked into The Snug bar and pointed at one of the bartenders as she cried out, “Craig Tillbury!”

The bartender looked up with a smile. “Zelena Mills!”

Zelena walked over to the bar with a flirty smile. “Have you missed me, darling?”

Craig laughed as he leaned over the bar and kissed the redhead on the cheek. “Damn right I have,” he said honestly. 

Zelena sat on a barstool and smiled as she noted, “nothing changes around here does it?”

“Not for a couple hundred years,” Craig said as he placed a wine glass on the bar and picked up a bottle of white wine and started to pour it. “How long are you in town for?”

Zelena nodded her gratitude at the drink being poured. “I’m not sure yet, I’m looking for my sister. Seems she’s out for the day so I thought I’d catch up with some old friends.”

“A sister?” Craig raised his eyebrow mischievously.

“Down boy,” Zelena said with a wink. “Regina’s not into your sort.”

“Regina?” 

Zelena raised a surprised eyebrow and turned around to see an elderly black lady looking at her with interest. 

“Yes?” Zelena asked with confusion.

Miss Mae looked Zelena up and down and nodded, “yep, you fine shoes sister. Can tell with your fancy bag.”

Zelena looked at her handbag and then back to the woman, “you know Regina?”

“That I do,” Miss Mae said. 

Zelena looked at Craig, “Craig, get this lady a drink, we need to talk.”

* * * 

Regina held onto Henry’s hand as he walked around the ship for the second lap. On their way they had made a number of friends as Henry stopped and waved at people and they smiled and waved back. Regina would usually have hated the attention but seeing how enamoured everyone was with her son was heartening. 

As they circled the ship Regina watched Emma interacting with the other passengers and frowned as she watched the blonde’s eyes glaze a little whenever she spotted Regina or Henry.

Regina knew something was up with the blonde, her demeanour was different from the previous night and she knew they needed to have a conversation sooner rather than later. 

“Henry, let’s go in here,” Regina suggested as she saw Emma in the dining room area where a jazz band were playing.

Henry happily turned and a passenger held the heavy door open for them as they entered the dining room. Henry’s eyes lit up at the jazz band and he immediately began to stomp his little feet in an attempt to dance along to the tune.

A few passengers noticed and their interest got Emma’s attention and she turned to see Regina and Henry walking down the dining room towards the band. Henry pulled his hand from Regina’s and danced in front of the band and Regina stood to the side to give him some space and so she wasn’t blocking people’s view of the band.

“A career in dancing?” Emma asked with a smile as she stood beside Regina. 

“Doubtful,” Regina sighed as she grimaced at the terrible wobbling thrusts that Henry was attempting. “May I ask what’s wrong?”

Emma blinked and regarded Regina with surprise, she hadn’t expected Regina to be forthright. 

“Nothing,” Emma attempted.

“Oh, please, you look at me and Henry like you might cry,” Regina said softly. “What is it?”

Emma swallowed and looked around the room and satisfied herself that most of the passengers were focused on Henry or the band.

“I.. I guess it occurred to me yesterday evening that I’ll miss you.”

“Miss us?” Regina frowned.

“Yeah, when you go back to New York,” Emma explained.

“Ah,” Regina nodded and watched Henry dancing. “What if I didn’t go back to New York?”

Emma looked at Regina in shock. “What?”

Regina sighed, “there’s nothing for me in New York, I.. I hadn’t intended to go back.”

Emma stared at Regina open-mouthed.

“This is why I didn’t say anything last night,” Regina acknowledged. “I know it looks odd, suddenly uprooting my life and moving to somewhere I hardly know..”

“You’re staying?” Emma breathed.

“I might,” Regina shrugged. “I hadn’t made any firm plans. My father’s inheritance money means I’m able to take some time off from work and spend it bonding with Henry. I figured it doesn’t matter where that happens, New Orleans is as good as place as any.”

Emma stared blankly at Regina and Regina looked happily at Henry and his dancing.

“Besides,” Regina continued, “Henry’s taken to jazz.”

As Emma was getting her wits about her to reply a member of the dining room called over to her. Emma looked apologetically at Regina before heading off towards the kitchen area.

As the cruise continued Emma found that she was in demand and she didn’t get another chance to speak with Regina and soon the steamboat had returned to the dock. 

Emma stood with the rest of the crew and said goodbye to passengers as they disembarked the steamboat. After nearly everyone had left Emma looked up to see Regina approaching the exit with a sleeping Henry in his stroller.

“He’s catching up on some sleep I see?” Emma said with a grin.

“Yes,” Regina breathed as she rolled her eyes. “Seems he can sleep through all this but not the distant buzzing of the television in standby mode.”

“Can we talk?” Emma said suddenly.

Regina swallowed. “Yes, I’d rather hoped that we would.”

“What are you doing now?” Emma asked as she looked at her watch.

“Nothing planned,” Regina replied. “Are you free now?”

Emma nodded and cast a meaningful look back to a colleague as she unclipped her walkie talkie from her belt and reached into a room beside the gangway and picked up her bag.

“May I?” Emma asked as she gestured to Henry’s stroller.

Regina looked at the stroller and nodded. “By all means.”

Emma took the stroller and lifted it carefully onto the gang and walked down towards the dockside. Once they were all on the dockside they started to walk off of the wooden dock and towards the city.

Emma was the first to notice Miss Mae walking towards them. “Wonder what she’s doing here..” Emma muttered.

Regina followed Emma’s line of vision and swallowed hard as she saw Miss Mae and her sister approaching them.

“Shit,” Regina whispered.

“What?” Emma frowned.

“That’s my sister.”

Emma looked at the redhead with Miss Mae and recognised her. “What’s she doing here?”

“I’ve no idea,” Regina replied.

“M, this is my wonderful little nephew, Henry,” Zelena announced happily as they four women got closer.

Miss Mae looked down at the sleeping boy in his stroller with a fond smile. “Sweet child, how old?”

“N-nineteen months,” Regina stammered, still confused about what was happening. “Zelena?”

“Hey sis,” Zelena smiled as her hips rocked back and forth to jazz music that was drifting from a street corner in the distance.

“What are you doing here?” Regina pressed.

“Mother fired me for siding with you,” Zelena said with a roll of her eyes.

“She fired you?” Regina asked with shock.

“Well, she threatened me and when I wouldn’t cave she had to follow through,” Zelena replied with a shrug before diverting her gaze. “You must be Emma.”

Emma released her frightened death grip on the handle of the stroller and held out her hand to shake Zelena’s outstretched hand.

“But..” Regina tried again.

“Fine shoes, let’s discuss this at du Monde,” Miss Mae cut Regina off. “In the air conditioning with some good coffee.”

“Fine shoes?” Zelena said with a frown and a look at Regina’s flats.

“You too fancy bag,” Miss Mae said as she turned around and walked away.

“Fancy bag?” Regina snorted as she looked at Zelena’s cheap knockoff.

“What’s going on?” Emma hissed towards Zelena as she pushed Henry’s stroller after a retreating Miss Mae.

“Nothing bad,” Zelena replied seriously. “I bumped into Miss Mae and we’ve been talking and we have an idea to put to you.”


	19. Chapter 19

Zelena spun around on the newly assembled office chair as the group of workmen continued setting up the office furniture around her.

“Isn’t it great, Regina?”

Regina stood in the middle of the office that was being built around her and nodded distractedly.

Zelena let out a sigh and snapped her fingers in the direction of her sister.

“Regina! Focus! Henry is fine with Emma, it’s not the first time she’s babysat him alone.”

Zelena was right, in the ten days since they had sat in Café du Monde and Zelena had explained her business idea to Regina the blonde had taken an extremely active role in Henry’s life. 

Regina couldn’t have possibly hoped for more as Emma supported Regina and Zelena in their new PR business venture in The Big Easy. In between Emma’s many part-time jobs she managed to look after Henry when Regina had to attend meetings, much to the brunette’s relief.

After Regina left New York, Zelena had spent some time soul-searching and came to the conclusion that she was actually envious of her sister’s new outlook on life. 

Zelena’s love affair with New Orleans had started ten years previous when she visited the city with some friends and instantly fell head over heels. When Regina had told her sister that she was going back to New Orleans and was considering setting up a new life with Henry there, Zelena has been shocked but supportive.

The argument with their mother had just set the wheels in motion for Zelena to do something she had always wanted to do, set up her own business in New Orleans. Zelena loved PR and was sick of the scene in New York so it seemed obvious to her that she could use her contacts and set up a new business in New Orleans. 

The only problem was that she couldn’t do it alone, while Zelena was a first-class spokesperson her traditional business and financial skills left something to be desired. 

While Emma and Regina had been enjoying a leisurely cruise up and down the Mississippi on the steamboat, Zelena had already signed up her first client; Miss Mae. 

The elderly matriarch had mined Zelena for information on Regina’s intentions with Emma while Zelena had assured the singer that Regina had no intentions of hurting the blonde. 

As the conversation shifted Zelena realised she had listened to Miss Mae’s performances many times over and they started to talk about other jazz singers and bands. 

Zelena had floated some ideas and Miss Mae explained how she was thinking about her retirement and needed a representative to help her. 

Over coffee and beignets at Café du Monde, Zelena and Miss Mae had excitedly explained their business plans to a stunned Regina and Emma who simply nodded in agreement. 

An hour later Zelena and Miss Mae had headed off to speak to the head of the tourist office so Zelena could pitch some of her ideas. Regina and Emma had looked at each other with confusion until Regina finally asked Emma what she thought.

Emma had shyly smiled and said that if it kept Regina and Henry in New Orleans then she was all for it and she’d do anything she could to help.

And help she had as Regina was pulled into executive decision making to get the business off of the ground as quickly as possible so Zelena could capitalise on the peak tourist season.

Within four days she had ten more clients and had even found office space in a building that had been full renovated since Katrina but had yet to be leased out. The ground floor was perfect for office space while the middle and top floor was living space. 

Zelena had convinced Regina to move into the top floor of the building while she took the middle floor. Today was the day that the office was being constructed and the newly purchased furniture for the living spaces was being delivered.

Emma was watching Henry in her own apartment while the sister’s got the new building habitable. Regina trusted Emma one hundred percent with Henry and her distraction was more from the fact that she wanted to be with the pair.

“Earth to Regina.”

Regina blinked as Zelena crossed the room and stood in front of her brunette sister with her arms folded.

“Sorry.” Regina shook her head. “Sorry, I’m miles away.”

“No, you’re about four streets away,” Zelena said with a grin. “Just think, once we get all of this sorted out you can spend some.. private time with Emma.”

“Zelena!” Regina blushed deeply.

“What?” Zelena laughed. “Come on, I know you two are dying to spend some more time together! I told you I’d be happy to take Henry one night.”

Regina blushed again and then pushed her way past Zelena and spoke with a workman who was carrying in filing cabinets and directed him to where they needed to be set up.

* * *

Hours later and the ground floor office, Zelena’s living space on the first floor and Regina’s on the second floor was all set up with furniture. 

The next day personal effects were being delivered from the sister’s old apartments in New York but until then they would make do. 

Emma arrived with Henry in her arms and a large rucksack of his belongings on her back and she looked around the office with excitement. 

“Wow, this place looks so different!”

“Yep,” Zelena agreed. “And in two days we’ll be open for business.”

Henry looked around the room with a frown, his young mind not understanding that the boring looking office was the same empty room he had seen a couple of days before.

Zelena walked towards Emma and spoke to Henry, “Henry, would you like to see your new bedroom? It’s amazing!”

Henry nodded excitedly and Zelena took the boy from Emma’s arms and carried him towards the elevator in the next room. 

Once they were gone Regina smiled at the blonde and held her arms out for Emma to hug her. Emma smiled broadly and quickly closed the space between them and found her home in Regina’s arms.

“Are you happy?” Emma asked softly.

“Very much so,” Regina admitted. “Are you?”

Emma pulled slightly back in the hug so she could make eye contact with Regina. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so happy.”

“Good.” Regina placed a light kiss on the blonde’s temple.

Emma smiled and returned to the tight hug.

After a while Regina hesitantly spoke again, “Zelena.. wants to babysit Henry soon.”

“Okay,” Emma said quickly and easily, not understanding the direction of the conversation.

“So that we might have some time together, alone.”

Emma pulled back a little and grinned as she gave Regina a roguish look. “Oh, really?”

Regina swallowed nervously, “y-yes. Unless you..”

“Oh, I want to,” Emma replied to the unspoken question. “I really want to.”

Regina bit her lip and smiled happily. Since the steamboat they hadn’t managed to spend much time alone as Henry was always with them. While they both loved Henry dearly they were both feeling the pull of desire and knew that the passionate kisses they had been sharing in stolen moments were only serving to ignite the flames not satisfy their needs.

“When?” Emma asked in a whisper.

“Tomorrow night? I want to make sure Henry is settled into his new room tonight.”

“Sounds perfect,” Emma replied as she extracted herself from Regina’s arms.

Regina watched as Emma walked around the office and looked at one of the impressive new desks.

“Is this yours?”

Regina nodded and watched Emma walk over to the desk and sit on the corner facing the office chair.

“So, when I come in and bug you about stuff I’ll be sat here?”

Regina laughed and stepped over to the chair and sat down and admired Emma’s position on the corner of the desk.

“Yes, do you intend to come in here and bug me often?”

Emma nodded. “Yep, as much as I can.”

Regina grinned. “I look forward to it.”

Emma looked at her watch and frowned. “I’ve gotta go,” she sighed.

“Ah, the mystery job,” Regina sighed playfully. 

“Yep,” Emma said with a wide grin.

After Regina heard Miss Mae talking about Emma’s job at the Voodoo Museum she knew eight out of nine of Emma’s part-time jobs. The blonde insisted on keeping the last one a mystery saying that she wanted to keep surprising Regina.

Regina enjoyed the playful game and Emma had allowed her one guess a day in order to crack the mystery.

“So,” Regina drawled as she leaned back in her chair and regarded the blonde. “You told me yesterday that it’s not anything like any of your other jobs.”

“Correct.” Emma grinned.

“So, it’s not a streetcar driver, steamboat host, voodoo museum attendant, casino worker, bar tender, burlesque dancer, water aerobics instructor or a tourist officer?”

Emma laughed. “None of them and you’ve already discounted astronaut, belly dancer, teacher, stripper and oil tycoon but I think you wasted a couple of your guesses there.”

“That was back when I didn’t think you’d genuinely not tell me,” Regina declared.

Emma smiled at her girlfriend. “I like seeing how your brain works, what kind of jobs you see me in. Of course the fact that your first real suggestion was stripper really boosted my confidence!”

Regina blushed as she softly admitted, “don’t forget I saw your burlesque show.”

“I’ll never forget seeing you in Façade.” Emma chuckled at the memory. 

“Likewise.”

“I should go.” Emma said as she leaned forward and pecked Regina on the cheek, knowing full well that anything more would delay her.

“Zoo keeper?” 

Emma hopped off of the desk and walked across the office, “nope! You’re close though!”

Emma paused at the look of horror on Regina’s face. “I’m kidding, Regina.”

Regina’s expression didn’t change and Emma noticed that all the colour had flooded from her face, her gaze focused behind Emma. The blonde slowly turned around and noticed that an older woman had stepped into the office, she was thin with hair tied back into a severe bun and was glowering at Regina.

“Hello mother,” Regina whispered.


	20. Chapter 20

Emma looked from the woman in the doorway to Regina who had sprung up and out of her chair but remained behind the desk as if it afforded her some protection.

“You must be Emma Swan.” Cora looked at Emma snootily.

Emma turned to Cora and stood straight as she replied, “and you must be Mrs Mills.”

Cora snorted a laugh and shook her head before looking at Regina.

“Where is your sister? With my grandson I presume?”

Shock registered on Regina’s face and Emma realised that she needed to step in as the older woman’s presence had literally turned her girlfriend into a wreck.

“I don’t think you’re welcome here,” Emma spoke carefully.

“And you’re not welcome in my daughter’s life,” Cora replied quickly.

“Mother!” Regina chastised, suddenly waking up to the situation in front of her.

“I’m here to see my daughters and my grandson,” Cora said as she stared at Emma. “This is a family matter.”

“She is family, mother,” Regina replied.

Cora laughed loudly.

“Oh, I fully expected you to think so, my dear. Especially now she’s caught you in her web, in this.. this bohemian lifestyle.”

It was Regina’s turn to laugh as she asked, “bohemian lifestyle? I’m setting up a business and furnishing an apartment, I think you need to rethink your use of that word, mother.”

Clearly surprised that Regina had found her footing and was arguing back, the older woman held up her hands to calm Regina. 

“I can see that there is no talking to you right now, I should have called ahead but as both of you have changed your number..” her voice trailed off meaningfully. 

“I will return to my hotel and come and see you tomorrow morning perhaps?”

“I won’t come home, mother. Neither will Zelena.”

Cora looked contrite, “I know,” she said softly. “I know I have driven you both away but I truly just wish to see my grandson. It has been a long time and I have reflected a lot.. I.. well, I wish to see you all. Safe and well.”

Emma didn’t buy one word of the speech and was about to share a hearty laugh with Regina when she realised that Regina seemed to be lapping up the sentiment. In a heart-wrenching moment Emma realised that Regina was hearing exactly what she wanted to hear and was believing it regardless of probability.

Emma couldn’t fault Regina for doing so, the brief conversations they had shared about Cora had explained to Emma the hurt Regina felt over never being able to impress her mother. Never even feeling loved by her mother.

Clearly Cora was now pulling on that particular heartstring with all her might to convince Regina of her newly turned over leaf. While Emma could not fault Regina for falling for it, Emma still deeply wished that she wouldn’t.

“I’ll return tomorrow, shall we say ten in the morning?” Cora asked sweetly. “That will give you time to sleep in after all your fine work today and still have time to get Henry up. I remember how much time it can take to get a little one up and ready for the day.”

Regina opened and closed her mouth for a moment and Cora took that as agreement and smiled one last time at her daughter before nodding her head and leaving the office.

Emma walked to the door and closed it before she crossed the room to Regina and asked, “are you okay?”

“Y-yes,” Regina stammered, “it was just a shock.”

“Yeah.” Emma nodded as she looked towards the door where Cora had left. “Are you.. are you going to let her see Henry?”

“Of course,” Regina replied with a frown. “She’s his grandmother, I can’t deny her.”

Emma worried her lip, knowing it wasn’t her place to say what she wanted to say and not wanting to cause a rift between her and Regina. She had a suspicion that would be Cora’s end goal and Emma was damned if she was going to help it along.

“Do you want me to stay?” Emma asked softly.

Regina seemed to consider the notion for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, you need to get to work and I need to warn Zelena.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Can you be here tomorrow morning though?”

Emma mentally retrieved her schedule and nodded. “Yeah, I can switch shifts, no problem. Want me to come over about nine?”

Regina nodded and quickly walked around the desk and pulled Emma into forceful hug. Emma wrapped her arms around the brunette and held her firmly as Regina clutched on like her life depended on it.

No words were said and after a few breathless moments Regina let go of Emma and kissed her softly on the cheek as she looked at her lovingly.

Emma said a quick goodnight and headed out of the office door and onto the street. As soon as she was outside she saw Cora waiting for her and let out a small sigh.

“Miss Swan,” Cora greeted.

“What do you want?” Emma asked as she started to walk past Cora and up the street towards work.

“Simple to speak,” Cora promised. “I’m not here to attempt to drive a wedge between you, I don’t want to cause problems. Just see my family.”

“Uh-huh,” Emma replied tersely.

Cora laughed. “There’s no point in my attempting to separate you, I can see in your eyes that you are doubting the strength of your relationship anyway.”

Emma came to a stop and spun around to glare at the older woman. “Bull! Don’t you dare try and play those psychological games with me!”

Cora held up her hands calmly. “I’m doing no such thing, maybe I misread the situation. I do apologise. I just know that you and Regina are very different and I know that while you thrive on a lack of structure, Regina needs it to survive.”

Emma regarded the woman for a moment before shaking her head and turning to continue her walk to work.

Cora immediately fell into place beside Emma. 

“Of course, you and Regina are close. I don’t need to tell you about her need for structure, I’m sure you’ve seen her diary!”

Emma thought to Regina’s meticulous and colour-coordinated diary that Emma had mocked when she first saw it. 

“Not to mention her OCD,” Cora continued. “I remember when she was a little girl she would fall apart if we went out in the evening and she thought she wouldn’t go to bed on time.”

That also rang a bell with Emma as she had discovered Regina’s strictness for timekeeping and her desire to formulate a schedule. 

“Yeah, she’s very organised,” Emma allowed.

“She gets that from her father.”

“Mmm,” Emma said distractedly as she stood on the kerb and waited for traffic to clear so she could cross the road.

“They were so very alike. Zelena is the carefree, happy-go-lucky type. Regina is more pragmatic, structured. She needs that in her life, as you know.”

A break in the traffic had Emma crossing the road in an attempt to hurry away from Cora but it was no use, the older woman was stuck to her like glue.

“But I suppose that is where you are good for her. Helping her to loosen up a bit, Lord knows I never could. Regina needs things a certain way but maybe for you she’ll change.”

“Look.” Emma stopped on the busy Bourbon Street junction and turned to face Cora. “I know what you’re doing and I really don’t want to hear it, I’m going to work and I’d appreciate it if you stopped following me.”

Cora shook her head as she chuckled. “Miss Swan, I assure you, I’m not doing anything. Merely making conversation. But I will respect your wishes and will no doubt see you tomorrow.”

Emma nodded her head curtly and quickly turned to disappear into the evening crowds. She turned around a couple of times to check that Cora hadn’t followed her and let out a sigh of relief when she was sure that the woman had gone.

As Emma made her way to work she found herself thinking more and more about what Cora had said and wondered if there was any truth to it. She knew that Cora was trying to get under her skin but what she was saying was essentially true, Regina was a control freak. 

Regina was meticulous about time and organisation and had made Emma provide her with a written down schedule of when she’d be working so she could plan around those times. 

Since Emma was young she had been a free-spirit and had enjoyed going wherever the wind took her. She didn’t plan all that much, nor think about the future and she had never owned a calendar. 

As Emma dodged in between party goers she frowned as she realised just how different she and Regina were when it came to structure. With a small shudder she tried to put the thought to the back of her mind as she turned the corner and jumped on the streetcar.


	21. Chapter 21

The next morning Emma arrived at Regina’s at exactly nine o’clock. In fact she had technically been there early but during the previous night she had decided to be more punctual. 

Despite her attempts to ignore Cora’s words Emma had suffered from fitful dreams where she and Regina argued about Emma’s lack of structure and organisation.

Emma wasn’t quite sure how the woman had done it but she had managed to push exactly the right button at exactly the right time and Emma oddly admired her for the talent.

“You’re early.” Regina smiled as she opened the door to let Emma in.

“No, I’m on time,” Emma replied as she showed her newly re-set watch to Regina.

“I mean early for you. Nine means half past nine usually.”

“Oh,” Emma swallowed. “Should I come back in half an hour?”

“No.” Regina placed a comforting hand on Emma’s cheek and smiled as she kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Emma smiled carefully before looking into the apartment, “where’s Henry?”

“Zelena is getting him dressed,” Regina replied.

Emma nodded and slipped her arms around Regina’s waist. “So, we have about an hour until your mom gets here?”

Regina chuckled, “no, we have about two minutes. Mother is always early.”

Right on cue the buzzer sounded and Emma jumped back in surprise.

“Why is she an hour early?!”

“She knows it bothers me,” Regina replied with a shrug as she answered the intercom and buzzed her mother into the stairwell to her apartment.

Emma quietly seethed that Cora had been lecturing her about Regina’s need for structure when she pulled these kind of stunts on a clearly regular basis.

* * * 

Twenty minutes later and all three women and Henry were sat in Regina’s newly furnished sitting room. Henry played happily on the floor with various brightly coloured toys while Emma and Regina sat on a sofa, Zelena paced and Cora watched Henry.

“The business is failing,” Cora stated casually. “Seems you need a family to run a family business.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Regina cried with a bark of laughter.

“No need to be so joyful about the fact, dear,” Cora said with a roll of her eyes.

“We’re not coming back mother,” Regina said firmly. “You can’t sack us both and then come grovelling back.”

“I could take some grovelling.” Zelena shrugged her shoulders.

Regina rolled her eyes at her sister. “What I meant was grovelling wouldn’t do any good.”

“Regina’s right,” Zelena said. “We’re staying here. We can make a go of it, I love it here and Regina and Henry have Emma.”

“E-ma!” Henry said in a whisper as he played with his toys.

Cora glared at Emma and Emma blushed, she loved how attached Henry had become to her but the kid wasn’t great at picking his moments.

“I hadn’t come here to ask you to come back,” Cora admitted. “In case it escaped your notice, we work in PR. A public falling out like ours doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Regina looked at her fingers that were interlaced in her lap and felt a blush colour her cheeks, knowing that the problems started with her.

“Then why are you here?” Zelena sighed.

“To see my adorable grandson,” Cora said with a smile towards Henry. Her eyes flicked up towards Regina and her tone turned serious, “and to convince you to give up this ridiculous notion that you and he could be happy here of all places.”

“Mother!” Regina admonished.

Cora held up her hands, “I can understand Zelena wanting to be here, it suits her and she enjoys it. But Regina, really. This place isn’t you at all. I saw things on Bourbon Street last night that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I was even offered drugs!”

Emma winced as she hated it when people judged the whole of New Orleans based upon some of the too vibrant nightlife. 

“It’s not all like that,” Zelena defended.

Cora’s gaze was fixed upon Regina as she gestured to Henry with her hand. “Is that what you want for him? Do you really want Henry to grow up here? Do you want him to see that behaviour? Become one of them?”

“No, of course not, mother,” Regina replied and jumped to her feet and picked Henry up from the floor and held him to her chest.

“Regina, I’m not trying to be cruel. I’m trying to be practical. I know you think you have fallen in love but please don’t make rash decisions that will influence Henry’s life as well.”

“Mrs Mills,” Emma spoke up and stood up. “If I may..”

Cora looked at Emma in confusion and nodded her head.

“I.. I don’t think you’re giving New Orleans a fair chance and.. if what you’re saying is true and you really care about what is best for Henry and Regina then I think it’s only fair that you get to know New Orleans for yourself.”

Cora looked at Emma with a curious gaze. 

“And how do you propose I do that?”

“Allow me to show you around,” Emma said quickly. “Let me show you how kind and friendly the people are. Let me show you the history and the sights. Let me be your guide and show you the real New Orleans, just give me a few hours of your time today.”

Zelena folded her arms and regarded her mother with interest.

“Yeah, go on mother, I think that’s a great idea.”

Cora snapped her head towards Zelena and glared at her.

Meanwhile Regina walked over to Emma and whispered in her ear, “you don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” Emma replied softly. “I want to, I want her to see that New Orleans is a good place for you and for Henry and I want her to get to know me. She may even like me by the end of this.”

Regina raised an uncertain eyebrow and nodded her head. “If you’re absolutely sure..”

“I really don’t know what you expect to be able to show me that will change my mind,” Cora replied with a shake of her head.

“Give me a chance, what’s a few hours?” Emma asked hopefully.

“Very well,” Cora sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. “If that is what it takes to stop this ridiculousness.”

“Great,” Emma smiled with a bravery she didn’t feel. “Give me half an hour to sort some things out and then I’ll be back and.. I promise you Mrs Mills, by the time I’ve shown you this city you’ll want to move here yourself!”

Emma briefly caught Regina and Zelena balk in horror at the very suggestion as she bolted from the apartment to make some arrangements.


	22. Chapter 22

When Emma returned she found Regina waiting for her outside and pacing nervously.

“Hey,” Emma greeted with a smile.

“Emma! Look, this is a really bad idea, you don’t know her like I do.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders lightly as she looked at her watch. “I’ve got to try, Regina. You hated New Orleans and you fell in love with it..”

Regina cut Emma off with a sad shake of her head as she said, “I’m different to my mother, trust me!”

The sound of horses’ hooves clattering up the street brought a smile to Emma’s face and Regina turned around to see a horse and open carriage navigating its way up the street.

“She’ll hate it,” Regina muttered sadly. “She hates everything.”

“Give me a couple of hours with her, I’ll try and change her mind.”

The driver stopped the horse and carriage outside the building and Regina reached for Emma’s hand as she softly whispered to her blonde girlfriend, “please don’t be disheartened by her.”

Emma nodded but any reply she was about to give was cut off by Cora exiting the building and regarding the horse and carriage with a weary sigh.

“Is that really practical? In this weather?”

“The horses are well looked after,” Emma explained and opened up the small door to the carriage to allow Cora access, holding out her hand for the older woman to balance.

Cora ignored Emma’s hand and pulled herself up and into the carriage via the handle and sat on the worn leather seat with a sigh.

“Let’s get this over with shall we, Miss Swan?”

Regina gave Emma a soft look as she muttered an apology and watched Emma climb into the carriage and briefly speak to the driver. With a tentative wave Regina bade farewell to her newly acquainted mother and girlfriend and prayed that all would be well.

* * *

Only ten minutes had passed and already Emma had decided that she wanted to throttle Cora Mills. The older woman complained about the smell of the horse and the uncomfortable seat in the padded carriage. Every time the carriage changed speed or manouvered around a corner she made a pitiful sound as if her bones were being viciously pulled from their sockets.

As Emma pointed out some historical landmarks I the French Quarter she noticed that Cora was still not paying attention to her and was spending her time frowning at the bars and daytime drinkers. 

“You know what,” Emma declared suddenly. “Maybe we should take a walk instead, you’re clearly not a fan of the carriage.”

“Oh it’s just my chronic sciatica,” Cora mumbled and waved her hand. “Do continue telling me these fascinating historical factoids of yours.”

Emma gritted her teeth together and shook her head.

“We’ll walk.”

“Fine,” Cora said with a bored shrug of her shoulders.

Emma spoke to the driver and he pulled the horse and carriage up to the side of the road.

“By the way, Em,” the driver called down to the blonde. “Marie says she’d love to watch Henry again, he was a real star and Norris loved him!”

“Norris?” Cora questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Our Old English Sheepdog,” the driver replied with a smile. “Great with kids.”

Emma gave her thanks and gestured for Cora to walk towards some covered market stalls. 

“I thought maybe we could go on the streetcar by the river and you can see the Mississippi and then I can show you some of the business district?”

Cora hummed her interest, or lack thereof, and looked around the market stalls as they cut through to get to the streetcar stop.

“Emma!” 

Emma spun around and smiled at an elderly black man who was waving at her.

“Hi Mister Belrose,” Emma replied as she approached him.

The elderly man reached behind his stall and held up a small envelope and handed it to Emma.

“Could you give this to Regina for me? Tell her I set the stone in the clasp again and I added in a little necklace in case she wants to wear it around her neck, keep it close to her heart.”

“Oh, this is her father’s ring?” Emma questioned as she opened the envelope and held up the yellow gold man’s ring and looked at it. 

Cora looked at other items on the rickety old stall and occasionally looked up at the familiar ring.

“That’s perfect, how much do I owe you?” Emma asked as she pulled her wallet out of her back jeans pocket.

Mister Belrose shook his head, “nothin’, was a pleasure to work on a piece so fine.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Come on, I have to pay you. What about the necklace?”

Mister Belrose sat back in his chair and shook his head defiantly and Emma chuckled as she pulled out some notes and reached over the stall and placed them on his workbench. 

Cora and Emma continued their way through the market with Cora frowning and sneering at any stalls that she deemed to be common.

“So, Regina had that old ring repaired?” Cora questioned casually.

“Yeah,” Emma replied. “She said it held a lot of good memories.”

Cora didn’t say anything else and as they exited the market they came across a group of men sitting on upturned wooden crates and drinking from large bottles of cheap alcohol. 

Emma sighed to herself, she knew that all cities had their downsides but she had really hoped that New Orleans would be able to do her proud for a few hours while she tried to prove a point to Cora.

In an attempt to distracted the older woman from the group of drunkards Emma pointed to a small store and asked if Cora wanted a drink as it was getting hot.

Cora gave an almost imperceptible nod of agreement and Emma was happy for the only positive interaction she’d had with the woman since she’d shown up in town. With bottles of cold water in hand they boarded the streetcar where Emma attempted to regale a bored looking Cora with facts about the streetcar history. 

After a while Emma stopped talking as she felt like she was wasting her breath but then a young mother with her daughter asked for directions. Emma turned and started to have a conversation with the mother about places to go and things to do and even made the little girl smile with a few well-timed jokes.

After a few stops went by Emma told Cora they had arrived and she began to show the older woman around the business district. It occurred to Emma that showing the business woman the reasons why setting up in New Orleans was a good idea might help her plight. 

Emma showed Cora the large hotels that Zelena had already approached regarding large-scale events that she was planning in conjunction with a few businesses that she had recruited.

Cora disinterestedly looked around and asked, “is this it?”

Emma had to admit that in comparison to New York the business district looked small but she pointed out how much growth had taken placed over the recent years. With a sneer Cora looked at some graffiti that had recently been sprayed onto one of the doorways to an upmarket deli and turned to face Emma.

“What’s next?”

Emma had no idea and asked, “what would you like to see?”

“I thought you were going to convince me what a wonderful place this was for my daughter and grandson?” Cora drawled, seemingly happy that Emma was already struggling.

“Fine. Follow me.”

Emma walked past Cora and started to walk up the street indicating the direction to the impressive Superdome and then indicating the new shopping mall that had been built. Emma hoped that showing Cora some of the growth and enterprise of the city would help her to see that there was more to New Orleans than all day drinking and partying.

“Is that a casino?” Cora asked.

Emma sighed, the casino was controversial and she was hoping they would gloss over it.

“Yes.”

“It’s.. enormous,” Cora admitted.

“Yes,” Emma said and quickly added, “it’s one of our many tourist attractions. Others include the award-winning aquarium and the butterfly garden and insectarium. Both great for kids. There’s also the zoo..”

“Miss Swan,” Cora said as she let out a sigh. “You sound like a city guide.”

“I do work for the tourist office, ma’am,” Emma admitted.

“Really? Then take me there.”

“You.. wanna see the tourist office?” Emma asked hesitantly.

“Yes, I want to see where you work,” Cora explained. “Well, one of the places where you work, as I understand it.”

Emma nodded and held up her arm to flag a taxi, wanting to get off of the topic of her multiple jobs as soon as possible. She couldn’t even begin to imagine Cora’s response to Emma being a bartender at CeeCee’s or her burlesque show at Façade.

Emma held the door open for Cora and then walked around to the other side and climbed in the car as she told the taxi driver to take them to Basin Street.

On the way the familiar sound of a parade taking place started to get louder and louder and Cora frowned as she looked around to seek out the source of the sounds. Emma regarded the woman carefully and smiled to herself at the familiar expressions that the woman shared with her daughter.

The main difference being that Emma had easily managed to break through Regina’s tough exterior by now but Cora seemed thoroughly uninterested in everything. 

As they passed the parade Cora looked out of the car window and rolled her eyes at the people watching and the parade and holding up alcoholic drinks in salute.

Fortunately they soon approached Basin Street where it was generally more quiet and further away from the central tourist area.

“What is that?” Cora looked at the open-top bus with a sigh.

“A tour bus,” Emma answered, not sure what else could say as they walked past.

“Hi Em.”

Emma turned around to see bus driver exiting the bus.

“Hi Stewart,” Emma replied.

“Can you tell Regina I read that book she recommended and I loved it!” Steward enthused. “When are you two next going to be at Interlude?”

“I’m not sure, she’s busy with the new business opening,” Emma replied with an uncertain shrug.

“If you girls need any help with anything, you let me know,” Stewart offered with a smile as he greeted a tourist and gestured for them to step in the bus.

“I will, thanks Stew, see you later,” Emma said as she and Cora walked towards the entrance to the Basin Street station building.

“What’s Interlude, some bar?” Cora said with a sniff.

“No, it’s a parent and child book club,” Emma replied. “They have singalongs and stuff for the kids, trying to get them into reading at a young age.”

Emma opened the door and gestured for Cora to step inside the air conditioned building.

“Oh lord, there’s another one.”

Emma’s eyes flew wide open as she heard Miss Mae’s words and quickly stepped into the tourist office.

“Miss Mae, this is Cora Mills, Regina and Zelena’s mother,” Emma explained and hoped that Miss Mae would understand.

Miss Mae looked Cora up and down and then looked to Emma and chuckled. “She don’t like you much, dove.”

Emma had to smile at the woman’s honesty. “No, she doesn’t, but I’m trying my best.”

“So, you work here?” Cora said, eager to change the subject as she walked around the large marble lobby and took in the sparse furniture.

“Yes,” Emma replied and glared at Miss Mae for help once Cora’s back was turned.

Miss Mae nodded sagely and walked around a desk and sunk heavily into the moth-eaten old chair.

“Yep, she a hard worker,” Miss Mae said as she stretched out and closed her eyes as leaned back.

Cora looked from the relaxing woman to the empty tourist office. “I can imagine you are run off your feet.”

“They don’t call it The Big Easy for nothing,” Miss Mae said with her eyes still closed. “Oh, dove, the newsletter came in this morning. Can you bring them in here?”

“Sure,” Emma said and then looked at Cora. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Emma hurried into the loading bay and saw the boxes of printed newsletters and opened one of the boxes up and picked up the paper booklet and leafed through with a smile. All the events over the last few months including photographs were included and she briefly reminisced before tossing the booklet back into one of the boxes and lifting one of them up.

Back in the tourist office Emma could see that Cora and Miss Mae had been engaged in some kind of a discussion and Emma shuddered to think what it might have been. On the other hand she mused that it probably couldn’t have made anything any worse than it already was.

She lowered the box onto the table and smiled at Miss Mae who picked up booklet and handed it to Cora.

“Upcoming events is on the back page.”

“Thank you, I don’t think I’ll be around to see them,” Cora sneered but took the booklet anyway.

“Suit yourself,” Miss Mae said before leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes again.

“I’ve seen enough,” Cora said to Emma. 

Emma opened her mouth to argue the point but realised that she didn’t have anything to add.

“Sure,” Emma said, “I’ll.. I’ll call a taxi.”

Emma opened the door and started to leave but as she did Miss Mae opened her eyes and looked to Cora, “how do you feel about making yourself useful and dropping this off with your daughter for me?”

Emma watched as Cora rolled her eyes and walked towards the black woman. “Which one?”

Miss Mae handed Cora a stack of photographs, “you’ll see which one. They from my party last week, you’d have hated it.”

“No doubt,” Cora said with a sigh as she held the photographs and headed towards the door. Emma held the door opened for Cora and Miss Mae gave her a supportive smile before Emma and Cora walked outside.

“I wish to go back to my hotel,” Cora said. “I have to call the office, we can’t all work in an empty room all day.”

Emma nodded as she held up her hand to hail down a taxi. 

“What should I tell Regina?”

“Tell her that my opinion has not changed, this city is a disgusting pool of excess and I believe that living here with a child is foolhardy. And believe me, Miss Swan, my daughter will soon see the error of her ways.”

Emma sighed a deep breath as a taxi pulled over and Emma opened the passenger door for Cora.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Emma said sincerely.

Cora paused before entering the taxi and looked at Emma. “I’m sorry, Miss Swan, I know that you are fond of her and Henry but I’m just looking out for their best interests. I may have acted rashly at first but the shock of a grandson hidden away from me was.. well.. you can imagine.”

Emma nodded her understanding.

“But now I have had time to reflect and I just want what is best for my family,” Cora continued. “And that is not being here. Certainly not for Regina.”

Before Emma could reply Cora had gotten into the backseat of the taxi and closed the door behind her. The taxi pulled away into traffic leaving Emma to stand on the sidewalk and watch.

With a sigh she turned and started to head back to Regina’s to tell the brunette the bad news that she had not been able to convince her mother to change her mind. She hoped that Cora wouldn’t be able to convince Regina to change hers.


	23. Chapter 23

Emma looked out onto the Mississippi river from the steamboat and let out a long sigh. She had only spent five minutes with Regina telling her of her complete and utter failure to turn Cora around when her boss at the steamboat had called and told her he needed her. Emma had been torn between staying with Regina and waiting for Cora’s return and getting out of the way and hopefully never seeing Cora again. 

Regina had understood that Emma needed to take the shift on the afternoon cruise and had done her best to calm the blonde and convince her that everything would be okay. Although Emma had smiled and nodded in an attempt to convince Regina that she believed her the truth was that Emma was convinced that Cora would win the battle.

For the first twenty minutes of her shift she had managed to stay distracted by interacting with passengers. But as soon as they were sailing away from the dock Emma began to feel the distance between her and the land more keenly than ever. 

As the powerful paddlewheel churned at the Mississippi waters and the passengers watched the city of New Orleans drifting away, Emma began to feel her connection to Regina drifting away as well. 

Alone on the lower deck where Regina had sat on her first trip on the ship Emma leant heavily on the safety rail as she reminisced. With a smile she remembered the first kiss, the first real kiss where both parties were vested. 

It was the day after the steamboat trip with Henry and Regina, it was in the evening and Henry was asleep in his stroller as they walked in the park up by Basin Street. They had pretended to go to feed the ducks but they both knew that it was just an excuse to spend more time together. 

Emma had stuttered something about the hot weather and Regina had shaken her head with a grin and leant in and kissed Emma. Emma hadn’t reacted for a few seconds while her surprised brain caught up with what was happening. But once she was all caught up she dropped the bread to the floor and wrapped her arms around Regina and held her tightly as she returned the kiss, hoping that this one wouldn’t be abruptly stopped.

As it turned out they made out like teenagers in the middle of the park for ten minutes straight before Regina eventually took a step back and smiled shyly at Emma. She had apologised for her forwardness, Emma had told her to be as forward as she liked.

From that moment on they took every opportunity to kiss, hold hands, hug and cuddle as if to somehow catch up on the time lost. They quickly agreed that Zelena’s business idea was sound and Regina tentatively asked if Emma would mind if Regina stayed in town. Emma honestly told the brunette that nothing would make her happier.

Emma watched the foam as the steamboat crashed through the still waters of the river and sighed as she shook her head. She had done exactly what she told herself not to do, fall in love and get her heart broken. 

Once Regina had told Emma that she and Henry would stay in the city Emma had allowed her defences to drop. Never did she foresee that Regina’s mother would suddenly appear and destroy everything that they had built up.

Emma knew that Regina was strong and independent but she also knew that she had recently lost one parent and had spent her entire life attempting to please her mother. If Cora decided to play the right cards then Emma knew that she would be able to convince Regina that she was not making the right decisions for Henry. And Emma knew that Regina was still finding her feet in her new role as a mother and that she would do anything to ensure Henry’s safety and wellbeing.

So, Emma reasoned, no matter how much Regina promised that she would go against Cora’s wishes or demands it was still likely that Regina would be convinced by the manipulative older woman. Especially as Cora clearly hated Emma.

Now Emma had to figure out how she would pick up the pieces of her life without Henry and Regina. She stood up straight and eyed the distant skyline of the city of New Orleans and silently wished that she could have helped Cora to see its magical qualities.

* * *

Three hours later the steamboat docked and Emma stood by the exit saying goodbye to the passengers and helping them down the ramp. 

“Who is that?” 

Emma looked at her colleague who was looking down onto the dockside and sighed as she saw Cora looking up at her with a grim glare.

“Crap,” Emma muttered. “I’ll be right back.”

Emma weaved in between the passengers and made her way over to where Cora was standing and looking at the steamboat with a critical eye. Emma looked at where Cora was looking and could see that some of the paint was pealing on the old ship and winced a little as she let out another sigh. 

“Miss Swan.”

“Hi,” Emma said softly as she stuck her hands into her jean pockets and waited for the older woman to declare her victory.

“I’m leaving this evening,” Cora explained.

Emma frowned with a lack of understanding, “okay?”

“And I wanted to see you before I left.”

“Right?” Emma asked with puzzlement.

“While I.. dislike this city,” Cora looked around with a small shudder. “It’s very clear to me that Regina is happy here.”

Emma blinked and found herself staring at Cora in shock.

“I daresay she has more friends here than she has ever had in New York, that much was obvious during our tour this morning,” Cora explained. “And when I returned to my hotel room I flipped through those photographs while I was on the telephone. Do you know what I saw, Miss Swan?”

“N-no?”

“My daughter. Smiling. The photographs were of a few events, I’m not sure which. But in all of them Regina was happy, talking with people, playing with Henry and,” Cora looked Emma in the eye. “And, with you.”

Emma nodded silently.

“I’ll admit I was angry this morning, this damned heat is horrendous. But in the air conditioned hotel room I spent some time reflecting on what I had seen and heard during our travels. And it became clear that Regina is making a home for herself here, involved in the community, making friends and.. although I don’t understand it, somehow she has found love. With you.”

Emma didn’t know whether to be happy or angry at Cora’s words so just continued to remain silent.

“I spoke with my daughters while you were,” Cora waved her hand at the ship, “doing whatever you do. We cleared the air about a number of things and I.. I have given them my blessings. When you are responsible for others you sometimes can’t see the bigger picture.”

A smile appeared on Emma’s face as she nodded with barely concealed relief. 

“I’m glad that you have cleared the air,” Emma admitted. “Regina loves you deeply and I know she hated being at odds with you.”

Cora nodded, “well, this does however mean that you’ll be seeing more of me.”

Emma couldn’t help the look of fear that crossed her face and Cora laughed at the immediate response.

“Don’t look too pleased,” Cora joked.

“I’m sorry, I.. I..” Emma decided honesty was the best policy. “It’s just obvious that you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Cora shook her head dismissively. “I don’t know enough about you to hate you. I’ll admit that I’m still coming to terms with the fact that my daughter is a lesbian. But if I can get used to that then I can get used to you. Zelena walked me back to the hotel a while ago and we met this woman, what was her name? Emo? Uko?”

“Echo?” Emma smiled knowingly.

“Yes,” Cora shuddered. “She knows Regina, apparently.”

“Yes, they’re kinda friends,” Emma agreed.

Cora looked a little shell-shocked by the notion and she reached her hand up and held Emma’s upper arm.

“Just look after my daughter and grandson, Miss Swan. They are both very taken with you.”

“I’m very taken with them,” Emma admitted. “And I promise I will do everything to put them first.”

Cora looked into Emma’s eyes for a few silent seconds as if ascertaining whether or not the comment was an honest one before she nodded and removed her hand.

“I’ll be watching you,” Cora promised as she smiled and turned to leave the dock.

Emma looked panicked and watched as the older woman turned and gave her one last look and sinister smile before she left. 

Emma didn’t know what to make of the interaction as her mind whirled to catch up with the turn of events. Cora had reflected and seen that Regina was happy, like any mother all she wanted was for her daughter to be happy. And even Cora Mills had identified that Regina was happy in New Orleans, specifically, happy with Emma. 

A broad smile crept across Emma’s face as she processed what that meant. Regina was staying, Henry was staying. 

* * *

Emma ran all the way from the docks to Regina’s apartment and when she arrived she took the steps up to the first floor two at a time.

Regina opened the door with a broad smile on her face and took in the perspiring and dishevelled state of her girlfriend.

“Emma! Did you run all the way?” 

Emma supported herself by placing her hands on her knees and nodded as she panted for breath.

Regina stepped into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a bottle of water that she had gotten straight from the fridge and waited for Emma to straighten up before handing it to the blonde.

Emma gulped down half the bottle before nodding her head in gratitude at the brunette.

“Why did you run here?” Regina asked with a frown as she closed the front door and led Emma into the living room.

“I just saw your mom,” Emma explained, still catching her breath.

“Yes, she said she would go and see you.”

“I..” Emma started before flopping onto the sofa. “I thought you’d leave.”

Regina frowned and took the seat beside Emma. 

“Why did you think that?”

“Because I’m disorganised and you’re not and because your mom hates New Orleans and I thought she’d convince you to go back home to New York.”

“This is my home.” Regina gestured around the apartment where cardboard boxes that had been delivered earlier were still being unpacked. 

“I know, she told me,” Emma attempted to explain. “I.. I just convinced myself that you’d see her side.”

“I’ll admit that if mother had tried to convince me to leave here she would know all the right buttons to push but.. well.. we have..” Regina drifted off.

Emma looked at the brunette hopefully. “We have?”

“We have something, don’t we?” Regina asked with a smile.

“Yes, yes we do,” Emma said with a smile as she reached her hand towards Regina’s cheek and gently pressed their lips together.

Regina responded immediately and slid herself closer to Emma and wrapped her arms around the blonde.

“Oh. My. God,” Zelena’s voice broke the mood.

Regina turned to face her sister who had strolled into the living room with her mobile phone in her hand.

“Zelena, we have to talk about knocking,” Regina grumbled. “Where’s Henry?”

“He’s down for his nap,” Zelena said distractedly before looking at Emma. “I know your ninth job.”

Emma felt the colour rise in her cheeks and Regina looked from Emma to Zelena in excitement before addressing her sister, “what is it?”

“Well, she’s gonna lose about a thousand sexiness points when you see this,” Zelena exclaimed before bursting out laughing.

Regina got up from the sofa and snatched the mobile phone from her sister’s hand and looked at the screen. A frown formed and she looked at her sister in confusion.

“Look carefully,” Zelena said as she pushed her sister’s face towards the screen again.

Regina stared at the screen again before realisation suddenly appeared and she looked from the screen to Emma and then back at the screen again.

“You.. you’re.. you’re..” Regina stumbled.

“She’s a Mike Wazowski impersonator for kid’s parties and corporate events,” Zelena filled in through tears of laughter. “I was flicking through the brochure when I saw a familiar face, I had to take a picture because I knew the brochure would somehow disappear.”

Regina looked again at the picture on the screen. Emma’s face was completely covered in green make up and she wore a green swimming cap to cover her hair. She wore a large, round, green costume with one eye on the front and green leggings finished off the look.

“Who the hell is Mike Wazowski?” Regina asked her sister.

“He’s a character from Monsters Inc, the kid’s movie,” Emma explained.

Regina looked at the screen again and started to laugh, “that’s utterly ridiculous.”

Emma nodded.

“Yep, but the kids love it.”

Zelena wiped some tears away from her eyes as she took her phone back from her sister.

“You know, I might make a booking for that event at the Superdome next week.”

“You dare,” Emma warned with a grin.

Regina smiled and pushed her sister out of the room, “out, and next time knock.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Zelena called back before she left the room.

Regina turned around and smiled at Emma.

“I never would have guessed that job.”

“Nope,” Emma agreed.

“I would have been guessing until we were in our eighties.”

“I don’t know,” Emma allowed. “I often miss bits of the green face paint so you might have had a clue one day.”

Regina sat back on the sofa and ask, “so, where were we?”

“Making out,” Emma replied with a smirk.

“Oh, yes,” Regina said with a grin. “Well, I hate to spoil the mood but what else did my mother say to you?”

“She told me to look after you both, that she’d be watching me,” Emma recounted. “Oh, and she bumped into Echo when her and Zelena were walking. I think that made her think I was quite the catch.”

Regina chuckled as she leant forward and picked up a stack of photographs from the coffee table and showed one to Emma.

“This was what made her change her mind.”

Emma took the photograph and remembered the day from the park the previous week. She was holding Henry who smiling and laughing at something and Regina was stood next to her, kissing her lightly on the cheek. 

“We look pretty happy,” Emma commented.

“We certainly do,” Regina replied as she leafed through some of the other photographs before pausing at one and holding it up to Emma.

Emma looked up to see Echo carrying Henry and pointing to the ducks on the pond.

“She’s a softie,” Emma chuckled.

“She is,” Regina agreed. “By the way, I never found out, why is her nickname Echo?”

Emma laughed for a moment before lowering the photographs to her the table.

“Well, she says it’s because a lot of the girls she’s been with,” Emma paused as she considered her words. “shout her name during.. activities.. and it kinda..”

“Echoes,” Regina said with a blush and an understanding nod. “I see.”

“She’s full of it,” Emma stated with a smile.

“Yes, she is,” Regina agreed. “Mother leaves this afternoon and Zelena wishes to babysit Henry this evening.”

Emma nodded her head as she looked at the photograph of her new little family, “okay.”

“Emma,” Regina said meaningfully.

Emma looked up at Regina and then grasped what the brunette was alluding to.

“Oh, oh! Yes, right!” Emma licked her lips nervously before smiling and leaning forward to kiss Regina.

Regina smiled brightly and looked at the photograph, “what a handsome family.”

“Yes,” Emma said. “Not bad for a sordid hellhole.”

Regina chuckled and shook her head. “You’re really never going to let me forget that are you?”

“Never,” Emma said as she placed a soft kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. “I’m just glad I convinced you to stay.”

“Me too,” Regina replied sincerely. “I’m glad I got to see New Orleans through your eyes, it’s a remarkable place.”

“It’s the people that make it,” Emma said as Regina nuzzled into her side and reached forward to pick up the stack of photographs. 

They cuddled as they looked through the photographs that Miss Mae had given to Cora and reflected back on the past week in New Orleans. A city that has to been seen and experienced to be truly understood.

THE END


End file.
